DOB appoints anti-corruption chief

From the NY Times:

For the first time in its history, the Buildings Department has named a former law enforcement official to serve in the highest ranks of the agency, where corruption and mismanagement have been a persistent embarrassment to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

The official, Eugene J. Corcoran, was most recently the United States Marshal in Brooklyn, where for seven years he oversaw the protection of federal judges and witnesses, the pursuit of fugitives and a range of investigations. He was appointed as the building agency’s deputy commissioner of enforcement on Monday, according to a news release.

A low-key and respected former New York state trooper, Mr. Corcoran has more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement, including four years in the No. 2 job at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department. He served 21 years with the State Police.

In the new post, which raises the enforcement job to the deputy commissioner level, Mr. Corcoran will oversee more than 120 lawyers, investigators and inspectors who investigate the work of contractors, developers, architects and others accused of violating the city construction code and who prosecute them at administrative hearings, the news release said.

Mr. Corcoran will also be responsible for the agency’s Office of Internal Audits and Discipline, which investigates employee misconduct and unlicensed construction work, sometimes with the city’s Department of Investigation.