The city’s chief crane inspector was arrested on Friday and charged with taking bribes to allow cranes to pass inspection, the authorities said. He was also accused of taking money from a crane company that sought to ensure that its employees would pass the required licensing exam. Top City Crane Inspector Accused of Taking Bribes
The man, James Delayo, 60, the acting chief inspector for the Cranes and Derricks Unit at the city’s Department of Buildings, oversaw the issuing of city licenses for crane operators. The case against him, announced by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the city’s Department of Investigation, was filed just a week after the city’s second fatal crane collapse in less than three months.
Officials said the accusations against Mr. Delayo bore no direct relation to the accident last week at 91st Street and First Avenue, where two workers died, or the crane accident on East 51st Street that left seven dead in March.
But the case was another blemish on a Buildings Department that has been reeling from construction deaths and inspection lapses this year, and for which deadly crane accidents are part of a lingering series of problems.
From the NY Post:
One of the city's top crane inspectors pocketed thousands of dollars in bribes from a construction firm while selling copies of the crane-operator exam, authorities charged yesterday.
James Delayo, assistant chief inspector for cranes, allegedly took cash for eight years to falsify reports claiming that cranes were inspected and operators properly licensed, the Department of Investigation said.
This blatant corruption by one of the Buildings Department's most senior men comes as questions swirl around the agency's ability to safely manage the city's building boom.
Here's the mayor's response.
12 comments:
What a shocker!
As I've already gone
on the public record with before
(and I'll repeat myself once again):
POLYGRAPH ALL
DOB BUILDING INSPECTORS
(maybe the whole department)
on a spot check basis several times a year.
Beginning with those DOI "sweeps"
of the DOB in the early 1990s...
THE RECORD HAS SHOWN
that far too many of them turn out to be CROOKS!
Very few will dispute that the building industry is so "mobbed up".
These DOB inspectors are part of the link to La Cosa Nostra, Mafia or whatever the "cement pouring walyos"
are calling themselves these days!
unbelievable. in new york. how COULD that have happened.....
This the same guy who was working for The Town of North Hempstead (inspector) then resigned when the town came under investigation ?
Jerry
"POLYGRAPH ALL
DOB BUILDING INSPECTORS"
Awesome idea!
The fired former housing commisher Patricia J. Lancaster was payed off by the developer Macklowe for looking the other way. He Hired her for a no show job. Developer protecting the mob protecting the developer, while people die from falling crains. That is the way business is done in this city.
A typical NYC agency run without a system of check and balances. Ultimate power corrupts ultimately!
The system will never work unless everyone is accountable especially those in government!
Commissar Death is so brave. Warning all city employees that they will be caught!
The turtle faced liar probably just didn't get his cut from the bribes. So this guy's got to be thrown down the rathole.
And, Jerry: you are so right!
But also subject these guys to incessant and random integrity checks.
Open their accounts.
If this is good treatment for cops, it's good for these cheats.
No building starts until AFTER all verifications of ALL DOB paperwork.
And, no building starts until after DOB has been closed down and reopened under new management and employees.
Hang him out to dry...
on top of a crane!
Paying off the Department Of Buildings is nothing new. It started in the 70' under Donald Manes and continues unchallenged to this day. It's part of the framework of City Hall.
If the inspector's name is "Mr. Khan" then, you can build anything you want.
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