Crane Collapse Fallout

Well, it's not surprising at all that the Buildings Department inspector who was supposed to have inspected the crane days before the collapse has been arrested and charged in connection with the collapse that crushed buildings around the construction site and killed seven people and wounded dozens this past Saturday.

A Buildings Department inspector, Edward J. Marquette, has been arrested and charged with lying to New York City authorities about inspecting the crane that collapsed on Saturday afternoon, killing seven people, injuring dozens of others and causing widespread property damage. Officials issued a stern warning that corrupt workers will be punished, but said the failure to inspect the crane on March 4 was almost certainly not a factor in the deadly collapse, which officials think may have been caused by the failure of a nylon strap, which caused a massive steel collar to come loose.

For all the talk about how the construction sites and companies are playing fast and loose with safety, the real question is just how well managed the Buildings Department is in the City. Marquette claims to have inspected the crane on March 4th, but admitted to the Department of Investigations that no such inspection ever took place.

The DOI insists that the failure to inspect the crane on March 4 didn't play a role in the collapse, but one has to wonder whether the inspection on the Friday before the collapse was as thorough as it should have been. Could a thorough inspection of the crane and its environs found the problem before it crashed down on the surrounding neighborhood?

This all goes to a pattern of failures by the Buildings Department to uphold its duties to the public and preserve public safety. Within the past few weeks, it's been revealed that the Department failed to inspect buildings and follow procedures, highlighted by a building collapse in Harlem that caused chaos for commuters on Metro North for hours.

The Buildings Department Commissioner, Patricia Lancaster, says that she's determined to root out the corrupt inspectors from the Department. It doesn't look like she's done a vigorous enough job all along.

I'd say that Mayor Bloomberg better be asking for letters of resignation from his folks over at the Department because the investigation is revealing a pattern of failures and poor management.