The Departed

As I noted back when a series of unfortunate construction accidents occurred, with a crane collapse killing seven people last month, Buildings Department Chief Patricia Lancaster was not long for her job.

Well, she's out. Fired or resigned, it doesn't really matter. The only thing that matters is that the Department gets shaken up in a big way.

A day after the mayor said he wasn't happy with the Department of Buildings in the wake of the uptick in construction accidents in the city, the agency's commissioner Patricia Lancaster resigned today.

"This morning, I met with Patricia Lancaster at Gracie Mansion and accepted her resignation as New York City's Buildings Commissioner," the mayor said.

Lancaster has been facing heat from newspapers and bloggers, especially since the March crane accident in Turtle Bay that killed seven people. It turned out construction of that building should never have been allowed under zoning laws. Thirteen people have died in construction accidents in 2008.

The Buildings Department has been an unmitigated mess for years, and Lancaster's performance has been underwhelming.

Hopefully, her replacement will clean house - completely and utterly - revamping the entire process so that not only is safety put first, but the process is streamlined and more efficient than the current labyrinth of red tape.