By Michèle De Meglio
Following the deaths of two men at construction sites, the city Department of Buildings is taking steps to improve conditions for workers. Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster proposed legislation requiring general and concrete contractors to register with the department and pay all applicable fines before being granted a license. This, Lancaster says, will allow the Buildings Department to determine if contractors are meeting safety requirements and buildings codes. Lancaster also wants a concrete safety manager to supervise high-rise construction sites to ensure that conditions are safe for workers. “The simple fact is that any careless construction practice can lead to terrible results,” Lancaster told the City Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee. “High-rise construction poses increased risks to the construction workers who often work hundreds of feet up in the air, exposed to the wind and other elements; increased risks to the public, who live, work, and pass near or under these construction sites; and increased risks to emergency responders, who must find their way through complex, partially completed construction zones when called upon for emergency assistance.” Lancaster crafted the proposal because two construction workers died in the last two months. First, a concrete worker was killed at the Trump hotel-condominium on Spring Street in Manhattan, then tragedy struck a Fort Greene site. On January 30, 43-year-old Jose Palacios was working at a construction site at 225 Clinton Avenue when scaffolding collapsed and he fell 13 stories onto the roof of a garage. He died from the fall. “When a construction worker dies on a construction site,” said Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, a coalition of community groups opposed to the Atlantic Yards project, “that site should be shut down.” Goldstein supports Lancaster’s proposal, saying, “That’s the very least they should do.” Maria Pagano, president of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, which has campaigned for downzoning, offered a reason for why some construction sites have become unsafe. “The Buildings Department can now process a building permit in two days and so there are so many sudden developments going up,” she explained. “The buildings are going up so quick that they’re throwing people into the mix that aren’t trained but are rushed into the job.” When injuries or deaths occur at a construction site, Goldstein said the city should look further than just the contractor. “Where is the responsibility of the developer? It should not all be put on a contractor,” he said. “If someone is hurt or dies at a construction site, the developer has to have some responsibility too.”
