1765 First Avenue at 91st Street (34-story apartment tower)

[krulltime]

34-story apartment tower and 520-seat school planned on First Avenue


http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1135036357_first1765.gif


December 19, 2005

A 34-story apartment building is planned at 1765 First Avenue at 91st Street by the city’s Educational Construction Fund as part of a mixed-use project that will include a 520-seat Middle School 114.

The project has been designed by SCLE architects and will replace two vacant low-rise manufacturing buildings, an existing vacant school, and it will use the air-rights from four adjacent low-rise residential buildings.

The building will have 155 apartments and a 30-car garage and the school will have 50,000-square-feet of space. As part of the city’s inclusionary housing program, the project will provide off-site affordable housing.

The Educational Construction Fund was created in 1966 and it best known for its mixed-use developments such as the office-building/Norman Thomas High School on the southeast corner of Park Avenue and 34th Street and the apartment building/Robert F. Kennedy School on 88th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.

The project, which was certified into ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review) today by the City Planning Commission, requires special permits relating to Zoning Text amendments and requirements for rear yards.

The project will have no rear yard.

1765 First Associates LLC is the developer.


Copyright © 1994-2005 CITY REALTY

[krulltime]

Here is the site:

http://www.pbase.com/image/53756145.jpg

[antinimby]

Typical SCLE garbage. Remember the ultra hideous "zebra" building on 42nd St.? They did that, too.
Can you draw up something like that above and still be taken seriously as a professional architectural firm? I mean, even amateur teenage kids can come up with more creative designs than this piece of garbage. Excuse me, but calling the above garbage is an insult to garbage everywhere.

Between them and Klondylis with the residentials and David Childs on the commercial end, what the hell is going to happen to this city? I'm scared.

[czsz]

This insults my eyes.

[Derek2k3]

Typical SCLE garbage. Remember the ultra hideous "zebra" building on 42nd St.? They did that, too.


ha, actually Hardy Holtzman Pfeifer were the design architects for that one, they probably just took care of the interiors.

[pianoman11686]

I could have put together a better design with my Legos back in the day, bright colors and all.

[Eugenius]

With its exciting palette of grey and purple, I propose we call this building the "Hematoma."

[MrSpice]

I am just happy they are building new housing and schools in Yorkville.

[krulltime]

DeMatteis to build 34-story condo tower and new school


http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1139523268_first1765d.gif


09-FEB-06

The land-use committee of Community Board 8 last night approved with no negative votes an application for a special permit for the construction of a 34-story condominium apartment building 1765 First Avenue at 91st Street by the city’s Educational Construction Fund as part of a mixed-use project that will include a new 520-seat Middle School.

James Davidson of SCLE Architects, shown in the photograph at the right, told the committee that the residential tower will have about 150 apartments and a 30-car garage and will use air-rights from four adjacent low-rise residential buildings on the avenue.

As part of the city’s inclusionary housing program, the project will provide about 10,000-square feet of affordable housing and committee members indicated they wanted that housing to be located within the board’s boundaries.

The Educational Construction Fund was created in 1966 and it best known for its mixed-use developments such as the office-building/Norman Thomas High School on the southeast corner of Park Avenue and 34th Street and the apartment building/Robert F. Kennedy School on 88th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.

James Smart, executive director of the fund, told the committee that the new school will replace P.S. 151 that has been vacant on the site since 2000 and that the project will permit the creation of a $40-million, “modern, 21st Century school at no capital or expense outlay for the city.” It will be known as the East Side Middle School and it has been operating in cramped quarters at P.S. 158 and its student enrollment will now be permitted to expand by about 200 students to 540 students.

Mr. Smart noted that the city will retain ownership of the land and Mr. Davidson said that as a result the residential tower will be a condop.

The special permit involves waivers of some height, setback and rear-yard zoning requirements as well as transfer of air-right regulations.

The DeMatteis Organization is the developer.

Mr. Davidson said the residential tower will have a 60-foot-high base and the tower floors will be about 6,500-square feet.

The four-story school will have a red-brick façade on 91st Street and contain 14 classrooms, two science labs, a music room, an art room, a multi-purpose room and a cafeteria and will have planters and benches in front of it on 91st Street and recreational playgrounds on 92nd Street.

It is anticipated that the project will be completed by September, 2008.


Copyright © 1994-2005 CITY REALTY

[macreator]

The Educational Construction Fund was created in 1966 and it best known for its mixed-use developments such as the office-building/Norman Thomas High School on the southeast corner of Park Avenue and 34th Street and the apartment building/Robert F. Kennedy School on 88th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.


This Education Construction Fund doesn't exactly have the best track record for design. Both of the buildings mentioned aren't exactly lovely.

The irony is that both buildings feature a fairly mediocre, but nice enough, second half containing, in the first case commericial space, and in the second case residential space, but both buildings feature truly awful looking bottom halfs containing the educational facilities.

Both the 3 Park Avenue building and the 88th street building seem to not offer students any windows. They must be depressing places to learn.

Hopefully the fund has learned its lesson.

[sfenn1117]

At least the old walk-ups aren't being torn down....it's only the old school which is nothing special anyway.

From that one rendering the building looks bad and boxy...but we need a rendering with more detail before we call it terrible. I bet it's still glass, at least.

[antinimby]

There's a brief mention of this project in an article posted by pianoman over in the 123 Washington St. thread (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=164479).

...and a $156 million construction loan for Azure, a 128-unit apartment building at 333 East 91st Street.

The DOB also shows permits (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=2&allisn=0001297125&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=) have been submitted for this project so construction should be starting soon, if not already.

[SilentPandaesq]

I live a block away on 91st and York. They have begun to demo the back of the school and the other buildings. They have also set up scaffolding around the school.

[antinimby]

^ Looks like you moved from Brooklyn.

Btw, can you track the progress of this project by taking pics? :D

[ramvid01]

The render looks like it was stolen from a rendering in the 60s or 70s. hard to tell what it will look like. I'll expect the worst from this project, that way if it's even mediocre it will be a pleasant surprise.

[Scraperfannyc]

Here is the site:

http://www.pbase.com/image/53756145.jpg

Those buildings need to be replaced. It's bound to be an improvement.

[SilentPandaesq]

^ Looks like you moved from Brooklyn.

Yea. I moved on up...to the East Side. Mrs. Panda didn't enjoy the shopping options of the Fulton Street Mall.

Btw, can you track the progress of this project by taking pics? :D

Will do.

[krulltime]

Here is the rendering and the website...

http://www.pbase.com/image/82198267.jpg

http://www.azureny.com

[sfenn1117]

Nice find. Looks a little clumsy, but not a bad looking building for the location.

[antinimby]

The top reminds me of the Link's and 310 E. 53rd St.'s body.

Overall, another filler type building, but a somewhat pleasant one.

[londonlawyer]

It's a decent building, but it replaces a nice old building that should have been preserved. With all of the disgusting, filthy tenements on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and York, they could have found a better site to build this.

[lofter1]

NY News broadcasts are reporting a Crane COLLAPSE at this site ...

The upper sections of the crane have fallen onto a building across 91st and into the street below.

An eyewitness reports taht the falling crane took out some balconies on nieghboring buildings.

[Front_Porch]

Jessica Lappin, the City Councilwoman for the area, mentions that she has heard of two fatalities . . . we have seen at least one pulled from the wreckage.

Supposedly the crane was inspected on Wednesday and jumped within the past 24 hours.

First Avenue will be closed from 86th Street into the low 90s.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[MidtownGuy]

Oh no, another one!

[econ_tim]

this is right in my neighborhood

as i left my apartment this morning, i saw five or six helicopeters hovering nearly directly overhead. i wondered wtf was going on so i opened the news link on my blackberry and it said crane collapse in nyc. i figured it had to be the azure. i would expect big changes at the dob.

[NYatKNIGHT]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/05/30/nyregion/collapse_650.5.jpg
Anthony Behar/Getty Images
Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[eddhead]

NY One is confirming one dead, he crane operator, and a second person pulled from the rubble. The condition of he second person is not known .

Good Lord.

[lofter1]

2 hours on and Mayor Bloomberg is yet to be seen ...

Must be looking for someone's head to take off.

[econ_tim]

2 hours on and Mayor Bloomberg is yet to be seen ...

Must be looking for someone's head to take off.

according to curbed, he commented on this in the middle of his weekly radio show

[eddhead]

^^ Yes, but it was before he was breifed on the incident. I kind of go along with Loter, he is looking for blood.

2 people are now confirmed dead. here is the update.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/crane-collapses-on-upper-east-side/index.html?hp

[The Benniest]

This is just horrible. Not again. :( I got home from work, opened up the NY Daily News website and this story covered the news. I literally went = :eek:

Not again. :(

[kliq6]

With numerous city inspectors apparently on the take, no inspectors being present when these cranes make a "jump" like this one had the night before and developers pushing contractors to get these residential units done before a larger downturn in the economy, sadly I think this will happen again.

[The Benniest]

I agree ... sadly. Here is a line out of 1 of 2 of the New York Post's articles on the subject that kind of relates to your remark:
"Every time there's a major thing we always say, 'We're going to do an investigation,'" he said on WABC-AM. "The real issue is, do you learn something and then change things? Or is it just, this is a way to stall by saying we're going to do an investigation. We're not going to stall.

Full article here. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/05302008/news/regionalnews/bloomberg_calls_crane_collapse_unaccepta_113211.ht m)

[alonzo-ny]

God what is going on.

[stache]

he should try looking at his own hands.

[ASchwarz]

The problem is the "solution" often makes things worse. After that horrific accident two months ago, they shut down all the sites, which actually made sites less safe by costing serious time and $$$.

They also got rid of Lancaster, who was the best thing to happen to the DOB. She completely reformed that agency.

The issue isn't lack of regulation. These sites are regulated like nowhere else in the U.S. This accident site had just been inspected and there was nothing amiss on the site. The issues are crappy subcontractors and (during the last few months) horrible luck.

[lofter1]

CURBED "Comment of the Day (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/05/30/comment_of_the_day.php#reader_comments)"
"The clock is ticking on a recession and these developers have put big dollars and extreme pressure for these construction companies to rush. (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/05/30/breaking_crane_collapse_on_upper_east_side.php#rea der_comments) The construction companies are working illegal hours, cutting corners, doing everything possible to get the extra money for finishing ahead of schedule. The developers dont want to be stuck without a chair in the recession musical chairs, so we have to pay." [BREAKING: Crane Collapse on the Upper East Side]
Comment on the Commenter #3:
Actually a construction Gc explained to me this: There are only a few companies in the area that own and lease out these cranes, and the enormous demand in NY and elsewhere has put a strain on the amount of "experienced and trained" staff that can then operate. They just do not have enough people to meet the demand and in the effort to do that a lot of new or experienced guys are operating and you get the result "newbie errors" and mistakes. ONly difference is that their "mistakes" have big bad consequences.

Any GC's, development firms, or crane operators concur?

Can bamboo scaffolding a la China and large parts of Asia be far behind?

Comment on the Commenter #4:
"There are only a few companies in the area that own and lease out these cranes, and the enormous demand in NY and elsewhere has put a strain on the amount of "experienced and trained" staff that can then operate"

This explaination sounds obviously legitimate, the DOB has to know this better than anyone, but it certainly does not acquit them.

If anything it is an indictment of the Bloomberg administrations' policy of approving/encouraging this huge development boom, knowing the trained professionals to safely supervise and work on these projects on this scale do not exist.

My sympathies go out to the dead men and their families.

As for Bloomberg, may he rot in hell.
***

[Merry]

“Construction is a dangerous business, and you will always have fatalities,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Two cranes collapsed in a short period of time — it looks like a pattern but there’s no reason to think there’s any real connection.”

Well, the mayor sure knows how to comfort and reassure the community.

I can't believe he said that. It's wrong in every respect, let alone very insensitive.

It seems to me that whether a pattern is emerging or not is irrelevant, and was a very defensive response. People died. Something needs to be done either way. No excuses.

Accidents do happen but can be avoided if lessons are learned. No excuses.

Negligence and incompetence are just inexcusable no matter what the circumstances, as are the mayor's justifications.



quote from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/nyregion/30cnd-crane.html?_r=2&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

[lofter1]

Merry, I'm so grateful you posted that quote. When I heard Bloomberg say that I couldn't believe my ears.

Basically he told NYers to "Get over it, get used to it" ... Amazing!

The Real Estate / Development industry is the single largest contributor to politicians in NYC. Therefore NYC has this ridiculous system whereby building sites self-certify a good deal of the work taking place on the site. Plus, as is pointed aout above, there is no way that NYC can have ample numbers of qualified inspectors who understand the building trade and are able to check up on building sites.

We all know that NYC is seeing record-breaking amounts of building.

Things are out of control. The Mayor must figure this out and rein in the situation.

[Scraperfannyc]

The issues are crappy subcontractors and (during the last few months) horrible luck.

I agree with this whole heartedly. Just look at the Deutch Bank Buidling, a never ending saga that is truly unbelievable. Sadly, this recent crane accident is national news, and it is NYC that is spurring on detective eyes towards crane construction around the nation. This can possibly increase the number of nimbys and bolster their arguments against development.

Aside from all the above, this looks really bad.

[lofter1]

Well, heck, the answer seems obvious ...

All this record-breaking development is using up the available & qualified workers. We just need more people to help the developers finish up all these new building projects in NYC. How about we get rid of the damned regulations and oversight? Clearly it's in the developers' interest that things run smoothly and sites are accident free. No doubt fewer regulations would mean the developers / builders could run a leaner ship and keep things moving & growing without bad things happening -- such as death & the interruption of NYer's peace of mind. Look at the facts: Since self-certification went into place at DOB both accidents & deaths have risen merely a tad. Apparenty from the developers' point of view those numbers are within the acceptable levels.

Maybe the answer is to allow more workers into the City and onto building sites (Bloomberg and his developer friends seem just fine with having anybody who can pick up a hammer help to re-develop NYC). We should welcome untrained & undocumented folks to dig foundations, lay the steel, pour the concrete, raise the materials and then self-certify that the work performed is up-to-code.

If we can't trust the guys with the money then who can we trust?

[Edward]

There are only a few companies in the area that own and lease out these cranes, and the enormous demand in NY and elsewhere has put a strain on the amount of "experienced and trained" staff that can then operate.
This parallels the recent theory that what sunk the Titanic was the substandard rivets and inexperienced riveters, all because of the ship-building boom happening at the time.

[RandySavage]

This can possibly increase the number of nimbys and bolster their arguments against development.

That's what I'm afraid will happen. Imagine how much more motivated someone will be toward fighting a tower going up next door (such as Nouvel's MoMA) if they think not just their light & view are at stake but their very lives and property. Someone who once may have sat on the sidelines in a development fight may now have the motivation to get involved against the building of towers.

[infoshare]

This parallels the recent theory that what sunk the Titanic was the substandard rivets and inexperienced riveters.......

That actually sounds like a plausible theory. That story reminds of an old cultural icon, Rosie the Riviter? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Riveter)

[eddhead]

Back to front page »

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/citys-top-crane-inspector-is-arrested/index.html?hp


June 6, 2008, 4:05 pm
C


ity’s Top Crane Inspector Is Arrested
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
5:40 p.m. | The city’s chief crane inspector was arrested Friday and charged with taking bribes to pass cranes under his review and for taking money from a crane company who sought to ensure that their employees would pass the required licensing exam, the authorities said. The man, James Delayo, the acting chief inspector for the Cranes and Derricks Unit at the city Department of Buildings, was in charge of overseeing the issuance of city licenses for crane operators.

He is also facing charges that he provided a copy of the crane operator’s exam and the test answers to a crane company in exchange for $3,000, said an official involved in the case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the charges had not yet been formally filed.

Mr. Delayo, who is being prosecuted by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, surrendered this morning to investigators from the city Department of Investigation, the official said.

The charges against Mr. Delayo, 60, which include third-degree bribe-receiving and first-degree tampering with public records, both D felonies for which he could face up to seven years in prison, came just a week after the city’s second fatal tower crane collapse in 10 weeks.

The case marks another blemish on a Buildings Department that has been reeling from construction deaths and inspection lapses, and for which the deadly crane accidents have been just part of a lingering series of problems. The agency’s commissioner resigned last month and Mr. Bloomberg has been struggling to find a replacement to run a department which has been plagued by corruption for decades and where the inspection ranks are sorely understaffed and underpaid despite an unprecedented building boom.

“This is a case where greed trumps safety,” said Daniel J. Castleman, the chief assistant district attorney in Mr. Morgenthau’s office, which is investigating the crane collapse last week. “With all the construction going on in New York City and the fatal accidents of the last few months, this type of conduct can not and will not be tolerated.”

Rose Gill Hearn, the Commissioner of the Department of Investigation, said in a statement that her office was working with Mr. Morgenthau as part of a continuing inquiry into corruption at the Buildings Department.

“DOI’s investigation revealed the profoundly disturbing and sobering realization that a senior inspector responsible for ensuring that cranes operating in New York City are in proper condition and are operated by qualified individuals is charged with selling out his own integrity in a way that compromised public safety,” Ms. Hearn said, adding that he had “rendered his inspectional job meaningless.”

The Investigation Department said in that to date, no evidence had been developed to indicate that Mr. Delayo’s alleged crimes had anything to do with the crane collapses last week and in March. The accusations against Mr. Delayo focus on smaller machines, known as Class C cranes, although Mr. Delayo was also responsible for overseeing the inspection of the larger cranes, officials said.

The 26-year veteran of the Building Department took bribes of “a couple of hundred dollars” in exchange of issuing licenses to about half a dozen Class C crane operators, including in one instance to a man who didn’t even take the test, the official said. All of the operators worked for the company that paid for the test and the answers, said the official, who did not disclose the name of the company.

Since at least 2002, Mr. Delayo, signed off on the annual inspection of between 20 and 30 Class C cranes without conducting any examination in exchange for “several hundred dollars” a piece, one official said.

Acting Buildings Commissioner Robert Limandri, who said he was outraged by the conduct described by the authorities, said the agency was in the midst of overhauling the unit Mr. Demayo oversaw and that much worked remained to be done.

“Our number one priority is to ensure the Departments staff conduct their jobs with the utmost integrity as we continue to forge ahead with our reforms,” he said.

Mr. Delayo, who lives in the Bronx, was promoted to the post of acting chief inspector after the March collapse, and now makes $74,224 a year, another official said.

Prosecutors were in the process of drawing up a criminal complaint against him and he is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court today.

In addition to the bribe receiving and tampering with public records counts, prosecutors also expect to charge him with first-degree falsifying business records, an E felony which carries a maximum four-years term, and receiving an unlawful gratuity, a misdemeanor for which he could face up to a year in jail.

The city Buildings Department issues licenses to crane operators who work within its borders while state officials issue such licenses across the rest of New York. Earlier this year, state officials reported similar problems with the integrity of the process under which they were granting licenses and said one longtime employee had approved 210 people for licenses despite their having failed the official exam.

[ramvid01]

Wow...just wow...

[stache]

He was being bought for very little money.

[lofter1]

The amazing thing about the corruption at DOB is that it has been known for eons that such a situation exists. Giuliani supposedly tried to clean it up. Apparently so has Bloomberg. But it just kept (and keeps) going on and on and on. And for ridiculously small sums -- $3K to falsify crane operation reports??

If the City had said "We'll pay contractors $5K to blow the whistle when bribes to inspectors take place" then you'd think that they could have cleaned things up. It makes one wonder if the officials really wanted the system to be cleaned up. And what developers where getting away with by paying the bribes.

I know the argument is: "Everybody did it. If you didn't pay bribes then no Permits would be issued and construction would not continue." If so then that means that all the developers knew about the payments and had to work the bribe money into their budgets. Everyone must have known. The money didn't just appear out of nowhere.

The entire industry is liable for the slime pit called DOB.

In each and every case where wrong-doing is found a penalty should be paid.

Or ... grant a 1 month "cooling off" period during which everyone can come forward and fess up to their bad deeds -- and thereby gain amnesty from punishment. But those who don't "self certify" that they did wrong and then are later found to have made pay offs or to have cut corners should get triple punishment. And have their licenses revoked.

Hell, I know very little about engineering or building but it seems that I could have done as good a job officiating over some of the divisions at DOB as the thieves that take our tax money to beat the system.

So, Mr. Mayor -- it seems you're interested in a 3rd Term ...

Get to work and earn the honor.

[lofter1]

Investigators Link Crane Collapse
to Repaired Equipment With Bad Weld

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/08/nyregion/08buildingCRANE.span.jpg
Todd Heisler/The New York Times
Workers examined where a turntable once connected a tower to a crane that fell on East 91st Street.

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/nyregion/08building.html)
By WILLIAM NEUMAN and KEN BELSON
June 8, 2008

In the spring of 2007, a bolt of lightning struck a crane at 46th Street and Eighth Avenue, damaging a crucial part — the turntable at the top. Over the weeks that followed, the turntable’s bearings began to grind, and the stress apparently caused a crack in the surrounding steel that grew so wide that a worker noticed daylight glinting through it, according to an engineering report for the crane’s owner.

The discovery set off alarm bells in the city’s Buildings Department, where officials feared that the operator’s cab sitting atop the turntable might fall onto the street in the theater district, people familiar with the episode say. Bethany Klein, the head of the department’s crane division at the time, climbed the 18-story tower to examine the damage. On the weekend of May 19 last year, the cracked turntable was removed with the help of two other cranes.

Accident averted, city officials believed.

Or was it?

Investigators now believe that the rebuilt turntable wound up in a tower crane involved in a fatal accident at 91st Street and First Avenue on May 30, according to NationsBuilders Insurance Services, the insurer for the crane owner. In that accident, a weld in the rebuilt turntable apparently failed, causing the top of the crane to break away and fall on a 23-story building across 91st Street, killing two workers. It was the kind of disaster that city officials had feared might happen on 46th Street last year.

City investigators and prosecutors are asking whether Buildings Department officials properly monitored the journey of that turntable after it was damaged by lightning. Did the department tell the crane’s owner, New York Crane and Equipment, to scrap or repair the turntable, or did it give the company other instructions? And did the city inspect the repaired equipment and its welds before it was returned to service on 91st Street?

The Buildings Department would not answer those questions, citing inquiries by the city’s Department of Investigation and the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The department also refused to answer general questions about its responsibility to inspect damaged crane equipment.

But high turnover at the department’s Cranes and Derricks Unit suggests that it has been in turmoil for months, raising questions about the division’s ability to monitor the more than two dozen tower cranes at work across the city.

On Friday, James Delayo, the acting chief inspector for the unit, was arrested and charged with taking bribes to approve cranes under his review, and with taking money from a crane operator who sought to ensure that its employees would pass the licensing exam, an official involved in the case said. Mr. Delayo could face up to seven years in prison if convicted. The charges against him do not involve tower cranes like those that collapsed last week and in March, the authorities have said.

On March 19, four days after a crane collapsed on East 51st Street, killing seven people, a crane inspector was arrested and charged with faking a report that he had visited a construction crane at that site on March 4. The inspector, the authorities said, never visited the crane.

The arrests have contributed to a significant staff upheaval at the division, which has also seen its director, its executive director and another chief inspector replaced in the past 15 months.

Even before the turnover, Buildings Department statistics have shown that the number of crane inspectors has barely changed since the 1980s, even as the city has experienced a historic building boom. Last year, the department issued 902 crane permits, 40 percent more than in 2003. Today, the cranes division has just four inspectors, although the agency recently hired a private firm to assist in inspections. The number of in-house inspectors has been as high as eight in the past 25 years.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/06/08/nyregion/08building.pop.jpg
Todd Heisler/The New York Times
The aftermath of a crane collapse May 30 in Manhattan
that killed two and displaced hundreds of residents.

Many construction experts and building industry officials say the city’s crane inspectors lag well behind private-sector inspectors in training and pay. Even Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg suggested that New York may have to bolster its inspection process to better police the city’s tower cranes.
“It may be that the procedures are as comprehensive as they can be,” Mr. Bloomberg said last week at City Hall. “It may be that we don’t have all of the checks and balances that we should have, and that’s why we’re trying to gather information.”

Members of the Building Trades Employers’ Association echoed that sentiment last week when they discussed hiring third-party inspectors to police their construction sites.

“It gets back to the buildings inspectors’ technical competence,” said Louis J. Coletti, president of the association, which represents union contractors. “Welding is a very particular area. It’s not the kind of review that lends itself to a building inspector or even a professional engineer.”

The Buildings Department has said it plans to hire a consultant to review the way it monitors crane operations and other high-risk construction activities.

Certified third-party crane inspectors are required in other states. In Washington State, beginning in 2010, the roughly 10,000 cranes there will have to be certified by third-party inspectors who must pass two written examinations, including one that deals specifically with the cranes they inspect.

Prompted by a crane collapse in San Francisco in 1989, California, which has some of the toughest crane regulations, requires third-party inspectors to sign off on cranes after every 750 hours of operation, or every three months, in addition to an annual inspection, said Charles B. Scarrott, a state-certified inspector from Simi Valley, Calif.

“Outside inspectors is the right way to do it,” he said. “City and state people don’t have the experience.”

The requirements to be a New York City crane inspector have not changed in recent years. Candidates must have five years of full-time paid experience as a rigger handling gear and equipment in the hoisting and rigging business or as an inspector of hoisting and rigging; or three years of experience plus two years of college engineering courses.

Crane inspectors at the Buildings Department earn $47,882 to $74,224.

Still, industry experts say it is not certain that additional city inspectors, or third-party inspectors, would have prevented the 91st Street accident. The insurance company for New York Crane said that the welds on the repaired turntable were tested by two independent firms for imperfections and that they passed both times.

What is clearer is that the crane unit has been under considerable stress.

The close call on 46th Street led to months of discussions with members of the crane industry, according to an executive in the industry who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the current investigation. Last summer, Ms. Klein assembled key crane and construction executives to hear a presentation by the engineering firm Lucius Pitkin, which was hired by New York Crane to examine the damaged turntable. The firm concluded that damage from the lightning strike appeared to have led to the crack.

After the turntable was removed, the cab and boom from the original crane were set on top of a new turntable. The crane operated with that configuration for several months, and, according to city records, it was taken down in early September.

The damaged turntable was sent to Brady Marine, a welding company in Elizabeth, N.J. There, a new bearing assembly was welded onto the turntable’s base. Several calls to Brady Marine were not answered.

On March 15, a crane toppled at East 51st Street. The buildings commissioner, Patricia J. Lancaster, ordered the inspections of all cranes in use. Ms. Lancaster also increased the demands on crane inspectors. Less than a week later, the crane inspector was arrested for faking a report, leaving the already understaffed crane unit with five inspectors. Then, on April 22, Ms. Lancaster stepped down under pressure and was replaced by her first deputy, Robert LiMandri.

On April 17, the cranes division approved the installation of the crane at East 91st Street. Officials have said that it received a routine inspection and was cleared to be set up on April 20.

A former crane unit chief, Leo Y. Lee, said that type of inspection typically would have involved checking markings on each of the major parts, including the turntable, against a list provided by the owner, to make sure they all belonged to the same crane. The inspectors would also have looked for visible signs of damage. Experts say that kind of visual inspection probably would not have discovered a faulty weld.

Officials at the Buildings Department would not provide more information about the inspections done on the crane, which is identified in city permits as No. CD1895, or say whether the officials who approved the crane’s installation were aware of its history.

Ms. Klein was the one city employee who may have been most aware of the crane’s troubled past. But she left the crane unit last fall and quit the Buildings Department to work for a private construction firm shortly before the crane was erected on East 91st Street. She did not return calls for comment.

Charles V. Bagli contributed reporting.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[lofter1]

CRANE BIG WAS WARNED

NIXED ALERT ON OLD EQUIPMENT

NY POST (http://www.nypost.com/seven/06112008/news/regionalnews/crane_big_was_warned_115008.htm)
By LARRY CELONA, CHUCK BENNETT and BILL SANDERSON
June 11, 2008

http://www.nypost.com/img/sl/exclusive.gif

June 11, 2008 -- A top Department of Buildings inspector overrode a subordinate's worries that the crane on East 91st Street was unsafe before its fatal collapse, law-enforcement sources told The Post.

Investigators want to know why the high-ranking inspector, Michael Carbone, let the Kodiak crane operate despite the subordinate's worry that the equipment, manufactured nearly 20 years ago, was too old and had undergone too much significant repair work, one source said.

The lower-ranking inspector wanted to bar the crane from the project. But Carbone overruled the employee's fears, and said that the crane was safe to operate, said the source.

It was unclear whether Carbone made his decision when the crane was in its yard, or as it was being assembled on East 91st Street.

Investigators can't say Carbone was wrong to let the building's contractors put the aged crane to work - based on what he knew about the crane, his decision may have been correct, say sources.

But after two deadly crane collapses, and the arrests of two inspectors accused of falsifying reports and taking bribes, probers are leaving no stone unturned.

Department of Buildings officials would not comment on Carbone's actions, since the question is "related to matters that are under investigation" by the agency and law enforcement. Carbone could not be reached for comment.

In 2005, Carbone was promoted to the post of the city's chief crane inspector. Recently, he was named chief inspector of the DOB Emergency Response Team.

Investigators are now focusing on defective bolts and welds in the crane's turntable. The bolts snapped in the May 30 collapse, which killed two crew workers.

But those weren't the only problems with the crane, which belonged to New York Crane & Equipment Corp. of Brooklyn.

Records show that on April 23, a buildings inspector issued a partial stop-work order on the crane after finding two mechanical defects.

One was a problem with a device on the crane that keeps its vertical boom from falling if it swings too low. Another was leaky grease seal on drums around which the crane's cables were wound. The order was rescinded on May 21, nine days before the accident.

Copyright 2008 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[econ_tim]

workers were erecting a new tower crane at the azure this afternoon. it was connected to the building with what looked like four very sturdy supports.

[brianac]

workers were erecting a new tower crane at the azure this afternoon. it was connected to the building with what looked like four very sturdy supports.

New crane's up at disaster site

BY MICHAEL JACCARINO and BRIAN KATES
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Monday, September 29th 2008, 11:43 PM

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/09/30/amd_crane-stroller.jpg (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/galleries/wrecking_from_the_crane_collapse/wrecking_from_the_crane_collapse.html) Savulich/News
Crane on rise Monday where two workers died. Click to see more photos.

Four months after a crane collapse killed two construction workers at an East Side luxury condo building, a giant new crane was rising at the site Monday.

Neighbors watched with a mixture of fear and resignation as workers set up the monster machine at the Azure condo at 333 E. 91st St., where the workers died in May.

"The first thing I thought was, 'Oh, here we go again,'" said Virginia Mohn (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Virginia+Mohn), 67, who lives around the corner from the disaster site. "After two people were killed, this is terrible."

EARLIER: DEADLY CRANE COLLAPSE ON EAST SIDE (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/05/30/2008-05-30_deadly_crane_collapse_on_east_side.html)

Joel Lopez (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Joel+Lopez), 29, who works nearby on E. 92nd St., was cautiously pragmatic.

"You can tell they are doing a lot of things they should have been doing initially, but I still avoid it," he said. "I tend to think they won't screw up twice, but I don't want to be the one who is told, 'I told you so.'"

The Buildings Department approved the new crane at the Azure late last week. It conducted an inspection of the unassembled components on Saturday to insure none of the pieces was damaged.

RELATED: PHOTO GALLERY (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/galleries/wrecking_from_the_crane_collapse/wrecking_from_the_crane_collapse.html)

By yesterday, the brand-new crane had risen 190 feet and workers were rigging cables to operate it. The crane will undergo the first of a series of required load tests tomorrow.

The maker, Liebherr Group, also inspected the crane before it was assembled. When complete, the crane will rise about 380 feet, according to building plans.

The new crane is "fresh out of the box," with safer collars attaching it to the building, said Buildings Department spokesman Tony Sclafani (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Tony+Sclafani).

CITY OK'D CONDO CONSTRUCTION AT COLLAPSE SITE (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/05/30/2008-05-30_city_oked_condo_construction_at_collapse.html)

By contrast, the New York Crane machine involved in the May 30 collapse was 25 years old and had a repaired turntable that failed, causing the cab to crash to the pavement.

Two workers, Ramadan Kurtij, 27, and Donald Leo (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Donald+Leo), 30, were killed in that collapse, which came less than three months after another crane failed on E. 51st on March 15, killing seven people.

The Manhattan (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Manhattan) district attorney is investigating both disasters, which triggered a host of oversight reforms, including a Buildings Department inspection checklist that has grown from 35 items to 200.

"We were not going to put up the crane until we had the complete agreement of the Buildings Department that it was 100% safe," said Don Miller (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Don+Miller), a spokesman for DeMatteis Construction, the general contractor.

Work on the luxury condo resumed July 17, after a stop-work order was lifted. The condo is now scheduled for completion by November 2009, about four months behind schedule, Miller said.

The new crane is operated by Morrow Equipment Co. (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Morrow+Equipment+Co.), the Buildings Department said.

mjaccarino@nydailynews.com (mjaccarino@nydailynews.com)

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/09/29/2008-09-29_new_cranes_up_at_disaster_site.html

© Copyright 2008 NYDailyNews

[NYC4Life]

Disaster will be averted this time, hopefully.

[econ_tim]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3212/2972093184_4e710ae467_b.jpg