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City building commissioner steps down

By David Freedlander | dfreedlander@am-ny.com

7:57 PM EDT, April 22, 2008

With 13 people killed in building accidents so far this year and allegations of lax construction oversight, Department of Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster stepped down Tuesday after leading the agency through six of New York's busiest development years.

Real estate and political insiders debated whether the embattled agency chief was merely a convenient scapegoat or if the announcement was too little, too late.

"The agency is obviously not what it used to be," said Rudolph Rinaldi, who served as buildings commissioner under Mayor David Dinkins, citing a change in the number of people who make the civil service a career. "If you are not tough enough, everybody in the industry is going to cut corners and take advantage of it."

Lancaster was brought in by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2002 to reform the agency, and her achievements include a major overhaul of the city building code.

But her term paralleled a period of explosive development, with dozens of Bloomberg-spearheaded rezonings creating a secondary skyline of cranes.

Lancaster herself pointed to that boom as a reason for the spike in accidents.

Pressure, however, began to grow on Lancaster and Bloomberg after a series of unrelated high-profile construction accidents culminated in a deadly crane collapse in Turtle Bay last month that killed seven.

Then Lancaster last week revealed that her agency mistakenly approved the construction of that 43-story building; it was too tall for that location. By Monday, she seemed to have lost Bloomberg's confidence, with the mayor saying that he wasn't "fully satisfied" with the department's performance. Lancaster was gone by yesterday morning.

Bloomberg yesterday credited her for laying "a strong foundation of reform and improvement for her successors to build on."

Many associated with the buildings and construction trade said that it was unfair to tar Lancaster, an architect by training, for a few isolated, if tragic mistakes on job sites.

"That's why they call them accidents," said Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. "You will never totally eliminate them. Regulations could not get any tighter."

That view was echoed by Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City. "It is no fault of hers that the resources of the department have obviously not been up to what was required during such a heavy period of construction," she said "I don't think this is a situation where you can blame anybody. We have all cheered growth in the city and employment in the construction industry."

Some, however, laid the blame with the mayor for keeping around someone who had been called "Bloomberg's Rumsfeld" despite continual calls for her resignation.

"Bloomberg viewed safety as a low priority," said Assemb. James Brennan (D-Brooklyn), who lead the charge against Lancaster.

For her part, Lancaster yesterday spoke of her accomplishments in a statement released by the mayor's office.

The question now was what happens next.

"We need fresh eyes and bold ideas and a no-nonsense attitude," said Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer, who had echoed calls for Lancaster's resignation.

The next building commissioner will likely only serve out the remaining 19 months of the Bloomberg administration, and then will be barred from doing any kind or work that comes before the agency for the next two years, in keeping with the city's good government laws.

"We have always had a problem finding competent people to take the commissioner position," said Stuart Klein, who served as inspector general of the department under Mayor Ed Koch. "It requires a level of expertise few people have. It's a tough job, and she was an easy target."

*** Major Construction Accidents Since May 2007