Photograph of Deutsche Bank fire by Todd Myers Last year, the former Deutsche Bank building was in the process of being dismantled when a fire broke out on August 18. It escalated into a seven-alarm blaze, and two firefighters died after when their oxygen tanks were depleted. It turned out a construction worker's smoking caused the fire, but there were a host of other problems, from the dismantled standpipe (which brings water up in......

Mayor Bloomberg is making acting Building Department commissioner Robert LiMandri the permanent commissioner. LiMandri has headed the DOB after previous commissioner Patricia Lancaster stepped down after a month after the March 15 crane collapse. City Room points out that the City Council paved the way for the expected promoting by changing the requirements needed for the job. Now commissioners do not need to be licensed engineers or architects--LiMandri "has an engineering degree, but is not......

Greenpoint's Studio B has allegedly been shut down; good news for some neighbors, bad news for some patrons. The Brooklyn Paper writes of its demise, saying it has "now been shut down by the Department of Buildings — but club lawyer Ken Fisher says the club has fixed whatever led to the failed inspection." No specifics have leaked, but the DoB shut the club down on July 31st, following the CB1 meeting that ended in......

The site of the 43-story tower at the corner of East 51st Street and Second Avenue may remain a partially built tragic reminder of the fatal March 15 crane collapse for a long while, because the developer's lender has started foreclosure action against him. Apparently developer, FDNY veteran James Kennelly, hasn't paid $70.4 million in loans; though he couldn't attempt to get new financing, bankers tells the NY Times it's harder for developers to get......

Yesterday, a construction worker died after being thrown from a small crane on Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens. A truck had crashed into it, and witnesses say there were "no warning cones around it, and the boom started swinging back and forth." Two workers who had been wearing safety harnesses survived, the worker who died was reportedly not wearing a hardhat. The truck's driver was not issued a summons, as the police believe the driver......

The Department of Buildings suspended Michael Carbone, a senior DOB crane inspector, for "neglect of duty." The Post actually contacted the DOB, noting he "had cleared several complaints last year that claimed unqualified operators were working in the industry and that some of their licenses were fraudulent." In fact, a caller or callers kept complaining about crane operators not having licenses or obtaining them fraudulently. Last month, a top DOB official was arrested for giving......

Photograph from East 51st Street by gattogrosso212 at flickr The East 51st Street condominium site where a crane collapsed into buildings--completely leveling a townhouse and killing seven--had its construction permit revoked. A month after the March 15 collapse, it was revealed plans for the 43-story building should never have been approved by the Department of Buildings (it's possible revised plans could still have been approved), so the developer James Kennelly was asked to resubmit......

Dozens of families that occupied approximately 30 apartments in an East Harlem apartment house found themselves out on the street yesterday, with what little belongings they could gather together as they were hustled from their homes. The Dept. of Buildings condemned the structure on 2nd Ave. and 120th St., noting that several partitions had recently been removed from the building's basement, causing the building's floor to sag in a sign of potential imminent collapse. In......

Some West Village restaurants can’t catch a break this week; first an old water main broke and flooded them out during Memorial Day weekend, now the city has been stone cold shutting them down. Eater has it that the Department of Health ordered Diablo Royale on West 10th Street to close yesterday for “unsanitary conditions” – a tipster says the inspectors faulted the restaurant’s flooded basement. Now the swank bar/restaurant Employees Only has gotten......

The Department of Buildings has allowed architects and engineers to "self-certify" their plans and alterations, to help with getting the tens of thousands of buildings pending permits fast-tracked. But after recent outcry, the DOB has re-reviewed many plans, finding over 80% are "plagued with zoning violations." According to the Post, the DOB usually "randomly reviews 20 percent of self-certified plans," but with the building boom (especially in Brooklyn), more funds were given to allow the......

With Patricia Lancaster's resignation as Buildings Commissioner after a series of high-profile construction-related fatalities and department snafus, the reaction is one of relief from some politicians while developers are sad. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who has been unhappy with the DOB for a while, said, "The time had come for new leadership at this department," and City Council member Jessica Lappin said, "I think it was appropriate and necessary...I want to thank her for......

A construction worker at an East 67th Street condominium construction site fell to his death this morning. The worker had been installing windows at the 23rd floor, and he fell onto a 14th floor balcony. Buildings Department Commissioner Patricia Lancaster issued a statement saying, "It appears the nylon safety strap connecting the worker to the building failed. As part of our investigation, our team is now auditing the method the crews used to install the......