The Omen

 

 NY Post

 Light some candles for Cuomo's victims too. 

 The leader of New York’s Assembly privately cast doubt on the spiraling allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo — and said his accusers will have to be interviewed “under oath,” according to a report Tuesday. 

  Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx) — who authorized an impeachment investigation of Cuomo last week — also warned Democratic legislators not to rush to judgment, noting that “people get accused of things,” Yahoo! News said. 

“These days any one of us in this place could be accused,” Heastie said. Heastie’s remarks were recorded during a nearly four-hour video conference call with the entire Democratic Assembly conference that preceded his Thursday announcement that the Judiciary Committee would “examine allegations of misconduct” against Cuomo, Yahoo! News said. 

Heastie argued against immediately drafting articles of impeachment against the three-term Democrat by saying some allegations were “based on a newspaper article or other people’s assertions.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press conference at the New York Stock Exchange in 2020.  

“We need to get witness testimony. We need to hear from people who have this information. You put them under oath,” Heastie said. “They may have made false statements. I don’t know.” 

Heastie said some interviews conducted by the Judiciary Committee “would not be made public” but added that “some people could be called in front of the committee as part of a hearing. see also Biden refuses to say Cuomo should resign immediately amid sex harass scandal Heastie also said he had “no idea what the time frame is,” adding, “An outside firm is going to have to be hired that deals with this type of stuff.”

Katz orders judge to liberate prostitutes from their criminal records

LIC Post

A Queens judge dismissed nearly 700 open prostitution cases at the request of District Attorney Melinda Katz Tuesday morning.

Queens Acting Supreme Court Justice Toko Serita granted Katz’s request to vacate the open warrants and dismiss the cases pertaining to people who have been charged with loitering for the purpose of prostitution and other prostitution-related charges.

More than 200 cases involved the now-repealed loitering statute, which had come to be known as the “Walking While Trans” ban. An additional 443 cases had been for other prostitution-related charges. Some of the cases go back decades, Katz said.

Katz, at a virtual hearing this morning, also asked Judge Serita to seal the cases – so that those charged would not have criminal records related to the cases.

Judge Serita thanked Katz for making the request and called it a “righteous decision.”

“This is an incredibly emotional moment for me as I have seen thousands of cases over the years in my role as the presiding judge of the Queens Trafficking Intervention Court,” she said.

Judge Serita noted that many of those charged had been victims of trafficking and exploited in the commercial sex trade. She added that the laws have stigmatized those charged and prevented them from leading full and rewarding lives.

“This is something we recognize that you did not need to do but did so because it was the right thing to do,” the judge told Katz.

Several defense attorneys appeared at the virtual hearing and waived their clients’ appearances.

More luxury public housing towers are coming to Hallets Point

  

 

LIC Post

The public will get an opportunity next week to weigh in on a developer’s proposal to build a 1-million-square-foot complex – with 1,400 apartments – on the Halletts Point peninsula in Astoria.

The Department of City Planning is holding a virtual public scoping meeting (this sounds like it's straight from planning together-JQ), where attendees can make comments about the planned development – called “Halletts North.” The meeting is scheduled to take place Monday, March 22 from 2:00 p.m. until 5 p.m.

The Halletts North project is planned to go up just a block away from the Durst Organization’s massive Halletts Point project. Both projects are by the East River, near Astoria Houses.

The developers behind the Halletts North project need a series of zoning changes as they look to transform the existing 3.8-acre industrial site at 3-15 26th Avenue into a giant apartment complex.

The development would consist of three residential towers – one 22 stories, another 31 stories and a third 35 stories, according to an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) filed with City Planning last month by Astoria Owners LLC.

More than 300 of the estimated 1,400 units would be set aside for affordable housing. The project would also include 3,600 square feet of retail space, a 9,700-square-foot community facility and a 525-space parking garage, the EIS stated.

The project, which is being designed by Studio V Architecture and Ken Smith Workshop, would also transform 40,000 square feet of industrial space into a public waterfront promenade, which would be accessible through a new road at 3rd Street.

The developers touted the promenade as a way to connect one of the last stretches of previously inaccessible waterfront with the rest of the peninsula.

“For too long, this site blocked families from accessing and enjoying the waterfront,” said Jim Hedden, a representative of the development team, in a statement. “Now, we look forward not only to connecting our Halletts Point neighbors with this resource, but to creating new economic, educational and environmental opportunities and revitalizing a disused portion of our shoreline.”

Cuomo crony menacingly solicits officials to support the governor

NY Post

A longtime lieutenant to Gov. Cuomo — who is now overseeing New York’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout — called around county officials to gauge their loyalty to the governor amid sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it emerged Sunday.

Larry Schwartz, who formerly held the highly influential position of secretary to the governor, undertook the phone campaign in the past two weeks as more than a half-dozen women have come forward to accuse Cuomo of inappropriate remarks or behavior.

“Last Friday, I had a conversation with Larry Schwartz who reached out to discuss whether I was supportive of the governor,” Democratic Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone told The Post.

“I explained that there were serious allegations made and that I was supportive of an independent investigation.”

Bellone said that the topic of vaccine distribution did not come up during the call — but at least one Democratic official voiced concerns that their county’s access to the vaccines might hinge on their response to Schwartz.

“At best, it was inappropriate,” that executive told The Washington Post of the call, speaking on condition of anonymity. “At worst, it was clearly over the ethical line.”

That official on Friday alerted the public integrity unit of the state attorney general’s office that they intended to file an ethics complaint over the call.

Schwartz, who is also a Cuomo-appointed MTA board member, urged the executive to reserve judgment on the allegations until the conclusion of a probe by the attorney general’s office, and asked them to keep him apprised of their thoughts on the matter, the official said.

Schwartz stressed that no one refused to take his calls, or indicated to him that they were uncomfortable.

“Everyone took my call or called me back,” he added. “NOBODY indicated they were uncomfortable discussing with me or thought it was inappropriate.”

President Biden gives Cuomo a pass

NWFC

Update. Biden Psaki-washes Cuomo's role in the administration's pandemic response 

NY Post 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that President Biden won’t strip Gov. Andrew Cuomo of his role leading the nation’s weekly COVID-19 coordinating calls with governors — despite prominent New York Democrats calling on him to resign over allegations of sexual harassment and COVID-19 mismanagement in New York.

A reporter pressed Psaki at her daily press briefing on why the beleaguered Democrat is still leading the weekly White House pandemic calls in his role as chair of the National Governors Association, particularly after reports that New York’s state COVID-19 vaccine czar, Larry Schwartz, is asking county officials to affirm their loyalty to the beleaguered governor, appearing to tie pandemic help to Cuomo’s unrelated woes.

Former Vice President Mike Pence previously led the national COVID-19 coordinating calls in his role as chairman of the White House coronavirus task force.

“It would be up to the NGA to determine if they were to make a change on that front. It’s also up to the legislature and others in New York to determine if he still has the confidence of the people in the state,” Psaki said.

Similar COVID-19 patient mandate is still being implemented in homes for the disabled.

NY Post 

 It wasn’t just nursing homes.

The Cuomo administration has spent the last year quietly allowing COVID-19 patients to return to homes for the disabled — much like it did with nursing homes — and the policy remains in effect.

The state’s Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) issued a directive on April 10 barring the group homes from denying admission or re-admission to someone “based solely on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.”

The order also prohibits the facilities from requiring that a hospitalized individual be tested for COVID-19 before being admitted or re-admitted.

At least 552 residents of such homes have died of the virus as of Wednesday. More than 6,900 out of the more than 34,552 who live in the facilities have been infected, the agency said.

The guidance is similar to the controversial state Health Department order issued in the early days of the pandemic that required nursing homes to accept recovering COVID-19 patients from hospitals.

The Cuomo administration has faced mounting criticism that the later-rescinded March 25 policy directive fueled outbreaks in hard-hit nursing homes. The governor has claimed that the policy followed federal guidance.

Cinema Pandemic Paradiso

 

 

Queens Chronicle

A reopening is finally in view for Kew Gardens Cinemas.

Andrew Elgart, the theater’s head technician and son of its owner, Harvey Elgart, said when he was working on the marquee recently several people would ask if it was open.

“It felt good,” he said.

March 5 marked the first day theaters in the city could open, almost 12 months to the day they were closed.

The plan is for Kew Gardens Cinemas to open near the end of the month.

While many theaters are playing the same movies, such as “Tom and Jerry,” “Boogie” and “Chaos Walking,” Elgart said the six-screen theater may look to play some more critically acclaimed movies such as “Nomadland” starring Frances McDormand, and independent films.

Elgart also said playing some classic films is a possibility. Some theaters on Long Island, which reopened last October, have been showing old movies in addition to new releases.

Elgart said he wants to see how Williamsburg Cinemas — which his father owns along with Cobble Hill Cinemas — is received by moviegoers in terms of feedback he could take for Kew Gardens.

He’s hoping the vaccines will ease the concerns of seniors, who make up a lot of business for the theater.

“They might feel a little more comfortable coming and the younger people might be more bold in general,” Elgart said.

He said he upgraded the air filters to the improved MERV-13 system and that arm rests will be cleaned after screenings.

Schedules will be staggered, perhaps with 40 minutes between showtimes instead of 25 or 30.

Elgart said he will likely close off the waiting room in the theater lobby, which has old movie posters and magazine covers on the walls. “I’m sure people will be a little upset,” he said. “We don’t want people just standing around.”

Cy Vance's last dance

NY Daily News

Knee deep in millions of pages of ex-president Donald Trump’s tax returns, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. said Friday he would not run for a fourth term.

“Representing the People of New York during this pivotal era for our city and our justice system has been the privilege of a lifetime,” said Vance in a statement.

“When I ran for this job in 2009, I said that a District Attorney’s responsibilities should extend beyond obtaining convictions in court, and that a 21st century prosecutor’s mandate is to move our justice system and our community forward.”

The announcement comes just weeks after Vance claimed victory in a bitter court fight over access to Trump’s taxes that made it to the Supreme Court.

 His critics say that Vance mostly reserved his gung-ho approach to pursuing criminal cases against Black and Hispanic New Yorkers while taking a more lenient approach for the city’s elite, including his decision not to pursue one of the earliest groping accusations against then powerful movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

But that victory was partially sullied by the fact that Vance declined to bring charges against Weinstein in 2015 — pre-#MeToo movement — for allegedly groping Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez.

 

Caption Cuomo hitting the bottom

   What the final scene of the movie version of Cuomo's "American crisis: Leadership lessons from the COVID19 pandemic" will look like...

 

Whitestone Republican Club confident pandemic is over

   

Queens Eagle

New York City’s self described “Guardian” put others at risk Wednesday when he went maskless at a crowded indoor Republican club rally in Queens.

Photos shared by an event attendee show GOP mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels vigilante group, without a mask inside a crowded American Legion post during an event hosted by the Whitestone Republican Club — an organization with a history of flouting COVID restrictions. Republican Queens Borough President candidate William Kregler and Council District 19 candidate Vickie Paladino, the club’s president, are also seen without masks inside the hall. 

One photo shows Kregler talking with Charles Vavruska, an aide to Councilmember Robert Holden, while Sliwa stands behind them. None wore masks in the photo. Other pictures show the majority of attendees sans mask inside the crowded wood-paneled room.

“I didn’t feel comfortable with that … it was practically completely maskless,” said the photographer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “I’m a Republican. I voted for Donald Trump twice [but] I don’t want to get COVID.”

They said at least 50 people were present at the event.

Current state rules restrict non-essential indoor gatherings to 50 people or less until March 22 and mandate that people wear masks when unable to remain six feet apart from others.

Sliwa said ditching the mask was a mistake, though he said he did cover his face at others parts of the night.

“I probably should have worn the mask more,” he said. “Upon second thought, more masks should have been worn.”

Giro Varrenzzano

 

 Brooklyn Paper 

As COVID-wary Brooklynites take up biking en masse to avoid crowded public transportation, a cadre of New York State legislators are looking to open the Verrazzano Bridge and other city spans to pedal-pushers — including by introducing legislation in Albany that would push the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to create cycling spaces on bridges overseen by the state agency. 

“Despite the rapid growth of bicycling in New York City over the last decade, the MTA has done little to improve bicycle access at its stations and prohibits cycling on its bridges altogether,” said Bronx state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in a Monday statement. “As more New Yorkers have turned to cycling and outdoor spaces throughout the pandemic, we must continue to make our communities welcoming to cyclists and pedestrians and encourage residents to use clean forms of transportation.”

The bill, which was simultaneously introduced in the state’s lower chamber by Queens Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, would create an advisory committee within the MTA tasked with drawing up a plan for better bike and pedestrian access on the agency’s bridges and public transportation stations.

The potential 13-member panel would be appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, and would also weigh in on the Authority’s capital projects and capital planning. 

One southern Brooklyn bike advocate hailed the move as an important first step in getting transit honchos to the table, after years of MTA bigs resisting bike access on the agency’s overpasses.

“For Brooklynites looking to bike over the Verrazzano to Staten Island or the Marine Parkway Bridge to the Rockaways, MTA leadership has been more than indifferent — they’ve been aggressively hostile, using arbitrary and false safety claims to obscure their own failures and last-place status,” said Brian Hedden, a co-founder of the advocacy group Bike South Brooklyn. “This bill will be an important first step in catching the MTA up with its peers, and ending the leadership’s pointless obstruction.”

The organization has lobbied the MTA since 2019 to close one of the Verrazzano Bridge’s 13 car lanes and turn it into a cycling and pedestrian path.

Cops are on the Cuomo beat.

NY Post

 The Albany Police Department has been formally notified about the allegation that Gov. Andrew Cuomo groped a female staffer in an incident that may amount to a crime, a source familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Cops haven’t launched an official probe but have “reached out to the victim’s attorney and offered up any other police assistance,” a police spokesman said.

“At this time, there has been no formal criminal complaint and there is no active criminal investigation,” spokesman Steve Smith said.

Cuomo’s acting counsel, Beth Garvey, acknowledged in a statement that state officials had referred the matter for possible criminal investigation.

“As a matter of state policy when allegations of physical contact are made, the agency informs the complainant that they should contact their local police department,” Garvey said.

NY Post  

The independent investigators spearheading the probe into sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have launched a fact-finding website.

High-profile attorneys Joon Kim and Anne Clark are asking anyone with information relating to the investigation to come forward.

Those with relevant information can contact the investigators at 212-225-3100 for voice messages, 518-545-0870 for texts or via email at independent.investigations@ag.ny.gov, the site says.

Mario's son is truly getting thrown under the bus here. Love wins.

Gothamist fucked up

 

 

 

 

 

 

Murder suspect escapes from Rikers Island as City Council finds the time to make it a public space

  

AMNY

City officials began taking steps Monday for Rikers Island to become a public space by 2026 — synchronizing with the Mayor’s borough based jail plan that would leave the island vacant in the same year.

A uniform land use review procedure was filed on Dec. 2 that would reclassify the Bronx island as a public space, rather than a jail facility, according to a statement from City Hall.

The ULURP at hand will “officially prohibit the incarceration of individuals there after Dec. 31, 2026,” though it doesn’t address what the future holds for Rikers Island.

“The proposed mapping action does not lead to any new development or construction on its own,” that statement noted, adding that any future plans – such as housing development, green energy facilities or the prospect of expanding LaGuardia Airport —will require a new planning and public review process, including a separate approval for and environmental review.

The announcement came after the city began the procedure of closing facilities on Rikers Island along with the Brooklyn Detention Center in preparation for the new and upcoming jail plan.

“We are moving away from the failed policies of mass incarceration and showing the world that Rikers days are numbered,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson, adding that the remapping of Rikers  “shows our deep commitment to closing” all of the jails there.

De Blasio reiterated Johnson’s sentiment: “We’re charting a new course forward for the island and the people of New York City.”

Eyewitness News  

 Police are searching for a suspected murderer who was mistakenly released from Rikers Island because of a paperwork error.

Christopher Buggs, 26, was awaiting trial in a 2018 murder when he was released on an unrelated case.

In the unrelated case, he was sentenced to 30 days of time served for criminal contempt.

He's accused of killing 55-year-old Ernest Brownlee outside a bodega in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Brownlee was apparently a career criminal who killed two men in the 1980s.

The Correction Department says it is conducting a full investigation into how Buggs was released.

"We are aware of this incident and a full investigation into how this happened is underway. Right now we are working with our law enforcement partners to return this individual to custody," Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Peter Thorne said.

"This is being fully investigated right now. We are going to put additional safeguards in place to make sure this never happens again. it's very frustrating. It was based on a court order, but it was apparently one case that this inmate had connected to him, but there were other charges obviously as well that should have meant he remained incarcerated. So we are going to get a full review of this immediately, make whatever changes we have to. In the meantime, we have a high level of confidence that he will be re-apprehended shortly," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Impunity City

 The Blaz has such a talent with words. 

 You might say he has the best words.

 

 

NYC is back on top in traffic congestion

NY Post

New York City had the worst traffic congestion in the US in 2020, a jump from the No. 4 rank the previous year, according to a new report.

Big Apple drivers lost 100 hours of time to traffic congestion last year, according to transportation analytics firm INRIX — which is actually a 28 percent drop from 2019.

But other cities saw much larger increases in speed amid the pandemic: In Boston, drivers lost 68 percent fewer hours in 2020 than 2019. In San Francisco congestion dropped 51 percent.

Philadelphia and Chicago came in second and third place in terms of hours lost to congestion, at 94 and 86 respectively. Each saw traffic drop between six and 12 percent more than New York.

INRIX transportation analyst Bob Pishue said New York’s rise to the top of the list surprised him — and was tough to explain.

“Downtown speeds [in New York] only went from 11 mph to 12 mph — not that big a jump, 9 percent or so. We saw in other cities jumps of 40 percent or more,” Pishue said.

“New York is its own thing. Everything in New York is unique. Trying to pin this on one factor is really difficult.”

New York City roads also accounted for the second, third and fourth most congested in the country, according to INRIX’s analysis — with the Brooklyn Queens Expressway from I-145 to Tillary Street, the Cross Bronx Expressway west of the Bronx River Parkway, and the BQE between 38th Street and Downtown Brooklyn taking the dubious honors.

Looks like the city's bike lobby-influenced studies about the decline of driving has been highly exaggerated.

A "real affordable housing" conundrum develops in Sunnyside

LIC Post

Four years ago, Phipps Houses withdrew their application to build an affordable housing complex in my Sunnyside neighborhood after I had come out against it.

It was a project that the community board voted against and which faced significant community opposition. I too was opposed, but not because I didn’t want to see affordable housing built here.

As I said then, my opposition focused on four key issues:

1) Phipps’ unwillingness to commit to good jobs, paying good wages, offering real benefits. I have always and will always stand for good union jobs.

2) The “affordable” apartments weren’t truly affordable – income levels were too high.

3) The existing tenants living in the Phipps Garden Apartments across the street complained of serious maintenance issues.

4) The new building would be nearly twice the height of the building across the street

Those were real issues and real concerns. And I wish Phipps had been able to address them then.

They weren’t.

But Phipps maintained ownership of the property, currently a large parking lot. They revised their proposal and came back to me and the community with it.

Some of the same voices opposed to the project four years ago are once again demanding that I block it. They say it’s the same project, with the same flaws, and if I opposed it four years ago, I should do so again. But this is a different, and much improved proposal. Here’s why:

Phipps has changed their tune to hiring and now offers good jobs widely, including both in this newly proposed development and the Phipps Garden Apartments. The affordability levels have been lowered dramatically, with 20% of the units at 40% AMI and the highest income band at 80%. We have never seen such levels of affordability in this area.

 Phipps is also one of the worst slumlords in the World's Borough. Something Jimmy is willing to overlook to pander for the votes of the rent-burdened. 

Here's another thing Jimmy overlooked.

LIC Post

The fashion shoe company Steve Madden is threatening to leave Sunnyside if the seven story, 167-unit building development planned by Phipps Houses on Barnett Avenue goes up.

Steve Madden, which penned a letter to Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer Jan. 14, said that it employs more than 400 people at its 52-16 Barnett Ave. location and it would be forced to relocate if the Phipps development moves forward.

The company says that it rents 120 spaces on the 220-space parking lot where the development is proposed to go. The spaces are used by its personnel and are rented from Phipps. Without the parking spaces for employees, it says it would have to leave.

“Without the public parking lot, Madden will have no reasonable way to maintain its Barnett Avenue presence,” the letter reads.

The letter also notes that its employees help bolster the local economy by patronizing local merchants and eateries.

“In short, Madden and its employees provide substantial economic support for the local community and its retail businesses,” the letter reads.

Phipps needs to get its Barnett Avenue property rezoned in order to develop the site. The application currently rests in the hands of the City Council, having been approved by Community Board 2, the Queens Borough President and the City Planning Commission.

Van Bramer issued a public statement today announcing his support for the project, citing the need for affordable and low-cost housing. He did not address Steve Madden’s concerns in his statement and did not comment for this story.

Steve Madden, however, has done little in the way of outreach to make its concerns known other than the solitary letter to Van Bramer. It did not reach out to Community Board 2 nor did it speak to Queens Borough President Donovan Richards or the City Planning Commission.

The Jan. 14 letter to Van Bramer was also not released publicly but surfaced on social media via the Facebook page Small Town Confidential.

The Queens Post called the attorney representing Steve Madden whose name appeared on the letter. The attorney–Andrew Luskin, of the firm McLaughlin & Stern–confirmed that he wrote it and said the issue was real.

Woman reported missing found dead in car trunk on Lefferts Blvd.

 

 

QNS

Authorities discovered a woman’s body inside the trunk of a car parked in South Ozone Park Wednesday morning.

The woman, believed to be 26-year-old Destini Smothers, was found inside a black Toyota Camry, parked outside of 149-57 Lefferts Blvd., around 9:51 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10.

A tow truck operator discovered the body after they had come to move the abandoned car, which didn’t have any license plates, according to the NYPD.

Officers from the 106th Precinct cordoned off the residential block as the investigation began.

 Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz arrived at the crime scene around mid-day on Wednesday. (?!)

Smothers, who was from Troy, New York, went missing in November 2020. She was last seen at Bowlero, a bowling alley in Woodside, according to the NYPD.

 

Willets Point eyed for casino...again

Well, well, well. For years, we've been covering "rumors" that the Willets Point boondoggle will result in a casino.

Now, according to today's NY Post, it's no longer a rumor.

Three large casino companies are jockeying over a rare opportunity to bring a piece of the Las Vegas Strip to the Big Apple, The Post has learned.

Wynn Resorts, Bally’s Corp. and Las Vegas Sands are all quietly positioning themselves to compete for a New York City-area casino license in anticipation of Albany putting out a request for proposals as soon as next month, sources told The Post.

Efforts have included talking to potential developer partners and wooing local politicians for support, sources said.

Locations being scouted include Willets Point in Queens, where new Mets owner Steve Cohen leases the Citi Field ballpark and adjoining parking lots; the Belmont Park development in Long Island, which is already home to the Belmont Park racetrack and the Islanders stadium; and Staten Island’s St. George neighborhood — home to both the Staten Island Ferry and the New York Wheel, a proposed 630-foot Ferris wheel to be located next to the Empire Outlets retail complex.

So which pols have been lobbied?

Is this man too smart to serve in the City Council?

Frank Spangenberg is a Jeopardy! legend, but it appears he is throwing his hat in the ring for City Council District 19.

It might be tough on him should he win, as he would be the smartest person in the chamber by far.

Governor Cuomo covered up structural hazards on his daddy's bridge

 

 

Times Union 

 A high-strength bolt snapped at the threads as an ironworker, Jimmy Jordan, used a torque wrench to tighten it into a steel plate connecting two massive girders. A piece of the broken bolt bounced off an overhang and split his lip open as he looked up.

It was January 2016, and Jordan was part of the team constructing the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement at the project’s main assembly site along the Hudson River in the Port of Coeymans, about 100 miles north of the bridge. Construction of the $3.9 billion twin span, which would ultimately be named after Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, had been under way for a little more than two years when Jordan’s injury led to a series of revelations that would call into question the new bridge's structural safety.

 It would emerge that dozens of bolts had similarly broken at the port assembly site, an abnormally high number that indicated the potential for a very serious problem. Bolts also had been breaking on the assembled girders loaded onto barges, and even on some pieces already installed at the bridge — including some more than a year after they had been tightened into the plates that hold the girders together.

For structures like bridges and high-rises, experts say even a few broken bolts can weaken the immense splices and result in a catastrophic collapse.

Despite the state’s knowledge of the situation, none of that was on the agenda when the 3.1-mile bridge was dedicated three years ago as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ceremoniously drove across it in a 1932 Packard convertible during the formal opening. 

 

 Despite concerns from engineering experts that girders could separate and the bridge could collapse without notice, the state’s investigations moved slowly. Also, many workers at the site throughout the multiyear project — some with firsthand knowledge of the extent of the broken bolts — were never interviewed by investigators.