Monday, November 21, 2016

DOB command post may be overkill

"A few weeks ago, there was this story about the FDNY rescuing a 93 year old man from a burning building on the upper east side. Well, while I was passing through there, the streets were barricaded and guarded by 5 or 6 cops on patrol and I happened to see this sight. A Department of Buildings command post wagon. Because of the surveillance of the area and how some cops don't like to have their photos or any other photos taken in their vicinity, I could only sneak a rear shot.

This city is going batshit with the frivolous spending. Now the DOB has to have paramilitary toys too." - JQLLC

12 comments:

JQ LLC said...

The truck is still there by the way. And the block still smells smoky. It turned out the fire was started by a faulty power strip.

The fire damaged at least 2 large old style tenement apartment buildings, which means there is a lot of prime real estate there to grab. Affordable housing opportunity, De Faustio?

Anonymous said...

Hope the public was given caution.

Anonymous said...

That's nothing. Remember back in the day when your school security guard commuted to work and stayed there like any other school employee? Now they are part of the NYPD, and for reasons completely unknown, they have an entire fleet of police cars and vans, as well as their very own mobile command truck. Why is this a thing?

Anonymous said...

Why is this a thing?
------------

Because spending only ever increases.

Anonymous said...

A mobile command post is not military grade -- although it still seems like overkill.

Anonymous said...

>Because of the surveillance of the area and how some cops don't like to have their photos or any other photos taken in their vicinity, I could only sneak a rear shot.

Reminder that it's completely legal to take photos of police in public, and illegal for them to stop you.

Anonymous said...

you don't think DOB could have used this during the 2nd ave explosion, or the crane collapse during sandy, or the crane collapse in tribeca, or etc., etc., etc.? c'mon guys these are working professionals who need to continuously supervise a site while documenting what's going on and reporting it. give them a break. it seems silly, but they're gonna be using this thing in inclement weather much more than in sunshine.
-somethingstructural

Anonymous said...

"Because of the surveillance of the area and how some cops don't like to have their photos or any other photos taken in their vicinity, I could only sneak a rear shot"

Really? As long as you are not screaming black lives matter and shoving a phone in their face acting like a moron, nothing is gonna happen if you are taking a picture of a vehicle.

Anonymous said...

I am not a fan of the Buildings Dept by any means, but I don't see what the issue is with them having a command post vehicle like this at the site of a fire or building collapse. I don't see it as frivolous spending in this case (there are so many other things they do which fall into that category) nor do I see this vehicle being "paramilitary". Its black and white, says NYC Buildings Command Post and is equipped with emergency lighting which I would think could be necessary if responding to an emergency or if it needs to be parked in a hazardous location. If it was camo color with a 50 cal gun turret on top then we could say that.

The inspectors need a place to work and this would support that purpose. A small car might not be enough space for them to do their jobs in scenarios like this, therefore this vehicle would be necessary.

(sarc) said...

And they had to use the money in the budget for something...

Anonymous said...

Doesn't look military, looks more like a UPS truck with a nice air conditioner on the roof. Odds are they never leave it in the summer.

JQ LLC said...

I do know my rights. The thing about this is that I am working during the day and I can't deal with the hassle nor can afford to, And especially in light of how the NYPD reportedly covered their badge numbers during the recent protests (and even past protests, I remember seeing this creepy behavior during protests when the RNC convention came here and Iraq war protests) and the way cops react with ludicrous and arbitrary reasons to obstruct picture taking of them and proceed with aggression and intimidation.

Maybe it's not paramilitary and it doesn't have a turret, and it sort of looks like a uPS truck painted black, but the picture doesn't do it justice, that thing is huge and doesn't look cheap, it's like an RV, It does resemble a SWAT truck though. If anything it can be justifiably used for, which I think looks like more like a cushy hangout inside the hard authorative exterior, is to round up those 100 slumlords that are tormenting tenants and plundering the city for funds for cluster sites, all the predatory developers and the Capalino's and Berlin Rosen's lobbies and their parasitic peers manipulating and ghost writing favorable zoning statutes perennially with impunity