The New York Daily News deserves major kudos for their recent investigative series about construction abuses in this city!The biggest building boom in more than 30 years has spawned a cadre of scofflaw developers in every borough who routinely violate building codes, flout zoning regulations and ignore basic construction safety, a Daily News investigation shows.
How hot construction biz brings a black market, scams & death
Five workers have died on the job so far this year.
Virtually all the deaths occurred in buildings where city building codes were violated or federal safety regulations ignored.
Yet the number of inspectors for OSHA and the city Buildings Department, the first lines of defense for worker safety, remains woefully inadequate.
Fatal gaps in the safety system
And then, there's Tommy Huang:
Queens developer is like one-man wrecking crew
Nothing seem to stop developer Thomas Huang. Not his long record of violations of the city's building and zoning codes. Not numerous lawsuits. Not dozens of formal complaints.
41 violations and $628,000 later...
Nowhere is this more apparent than in a series of stores and apartments Huang is building along Broadway and 51st Ave. in Elmhurst.
Area residents have filed 55 complaints against the project, and Huang has racked up 41 serious building violations. The city has slapped him with $54,050 in fines, but so far he has paid only $10,150, city records show.
Then there's the case of Karen Lieberman of Manhattan:
To city, Karen Lieberman is the invisible woman
Last May, developer Warren Malone received a permit to demolish the inside of his brownstone at 30 W. 85th St. The plans, certified by the architect but not confirmed by inspection, failed to show that Lieberman, the sole tenant, was living there.
Let's all write to Mr. Kates and thank him for his wonderful expose and tell him to keep up the good work!
