Audit found inadequate follow-up on violations; DOB to implement most, if not all,of Comptroller’s recommendations. City Comptroller William C. Thompson issued an audit report on Buildings’ handling of Building Code and other violations. The audit determined that Buildings’ follow-up efforts on violations were insufficient, not only because of program deficiencies, but also because Buildings lacked the authority to re-inspect flagged sites without a warrant and to compel property owners to remedy violations. As a result, … <Read More>
Search Results for: Department of Buildings Audit
City Comptroller audit faults HPD program
Problems found in HPD’s administration, inspections, audits and cost calculation for tax abatement program. On March 22, 2007, City Comptroller William C. Thompson issued an audit report on the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s implementation of a tax abatement program, the J-51 Tax Incentive Program. The audit found problems with HPD’s handling of the program, specifically concluding that errors in cost calculations led to improper awards of tax benefits and incorrect fee assessments.
The … <Read More>
LES Explosion, Plumber Loses License
Master plumber who held the permits for the work in the buildings destroyed in an explosion found repeatedly negligent and submitted materially false documents to Buildings. Andrew Trombettas, a master plumber affiliated with S. K. Piping & Heating Corp., located at 2103 21st Avenue in Astoria, and Beta Plumbing & Heating Corp, located at 1201 Astoria Blvd in Astoria, has been issued approximately 400 plumbing permits. Following an explosion at a building for which Trombettas … <Read More>
City Imposes Two-Year Facade Inspecting Ban for Engineer Following December Partial Building Collapse in the Bronx
On February 22, 2024, Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of Buildings announced an agreement for a two-year suspension for a professional engineer to conduct facade inspections following the December 2023 partial collapse of 1915 Billingsley Terrace in the Bronx. Several families lost their apartments, although there fortunately were no fatalities or serious injuries.
Mayor Announces “COVID-19 Heat Wave Plan” To Protect Elderly and Vulnerable New Yorkers
As temperatures begin to rise and as Summer in NYC officially begins on Saturday, the City is eyeing sports and other large venues to use as cooling centers and is set to spend $55 million on air conditioners for elderly and low-income residents. On June 12, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an update to the City’s plan to protect vulnerable New Yorkers from excessive indoor heat exposure. Now called the Get Cool NYC program, … <Read More>
Comptroller Stringer Releases Plan to Address City’s Affordable Housing Problems
Universal Affordable Housing would require 25 percent permanently low-income affordable housing in all new development with ten or more units. On January 29, 2020, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer announced a citywide housing strategy to fundamentally realign the City’s approach to the housing crisis. The strategy, coined Housing We Need, will include a universal requirement for 25 percent permanently low-income affordable housing in all as-of-right developments with at least ten units.