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Rebuilding Trust: Despite Better Inspection Numbers, Critics Still Lash DOB Over Flaws
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| construction led to the illegal removal of this parking sign.
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By By LIZ SKALKA
As any Queens resident knows, construction code violations and over-development are rampant problems associated with the borough. Residents and community groups have for years been calling on the City to tackle these issues head-on.
Data recently released from the Department of Buildings shows, however, that it is taking measures to more vigorously address these problems, though community members are still wary as to whether the changes will be long-lasting and whether the department is doing all it can to address the concerns of communities.
Improved Numbers
The Buildings Department announced last week that Queens inspectors increased their number of inspections, responded to more complaints and issued more Environmental Control Board violations in September compared to the same time last year.
The numbers were published Oct. 23 in the department’s monthly BUILD report, an assessment of the department’s performance in enforcing construction codes.
This September, the department’s Queens branch received 3,022 construction-related complaints. During this month, the department performed 3,451 inspections, a 23 percent increase from September 2006, and issued 570 violations, a 24.5 percent increase.
It also responded to 97.6 percent of emergency complaints within the targeted time frame of one and a half days. The average response time to these complaints in the borough is 80 minutes.
In September 2006, the Queens branch received 3,029 construction-related complaints.
Department of Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster indicated these numbers represent a good starting point.
“I am pleased to report that today’s numbers demonstrate that we are effectively providing our core services at normal or, in some cases, enhanced levels in Queens,” Lancaster said. “The hard work of our staff in transforming the Buildings Department is starting to pay off, but there is still more work to be done.”
According to the department, the increases reported in the BUILD report can be attributed in part to new enforcement programs such as the Stop Work Order Patrol. The program, launched in Queens in 2006, monitors sites with stop work orders.
Since its inception in 2006, the patrol has conducted 2,600 inspections in the borough and issued 120 violations.
Also according to the department, the increased enforcement actions come at a time when permit activity has remained constant across the City. The number of permits issued citywide increased 5 percent from last year, yet in Queens, the number of permits issued decreased 5 percent during the same period.
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Other Initiatives
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| Police had to be called in when this strip mall was accused of violating a stop work order.
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The department took other measures to crack down on abuses of construction codes. Last week, it announced its progress in creating a Special Enforcement Plan to enforce building codes throughout the City.
The initial phase of the plan outlines measures targeting repeat violators of building codes, and cracking down on unsafe excavation work and abusers of the professional licensing privilege.
“Our Special Enforcement Plan is designed to disrupt the business models of those who intentionally or carelessly put the public and workers at risk by defying the Building Code or Zoning Resolutions,” Commissioner Lancaster said.
Under the initial phase of the plan, $6 million was allocated to create 67 new staff positions. The department is currently recruiting for these positions.
Additionally, the State Assembly passed legislation in August that enables the department to refuse applications received from professionals who are found to have submitted false documents. The work of the Special Enforcement Plan complements this bill.
The department also expanded its Zoning Review Pilot Program to Queens in September 2006 which reviews certain types of permit applications for abuses of zoning codes.
In the coming months, the Excavation Team will also be fully expanded to Queens. The team monitors sites with ongoing excavation work.
Good Enough?
Though the Department of Buildings has shown it is taking steps to try to tackle problems many in Queens see as extremely important, some still criticize the department for not doing enough to address these issues and for not having enough resources to do so.
“We’ve seen this a lot with the department,” said Bob Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association. “The bottom line is they haven’t really had a good track record in enforcement. In a few months from now, they’ll be back where they were.”
Many point to the Bloomberg administration for not tackling construction abuses and over-development in the City. “This has been an ongoing problem for several years. The Bloomberg administration hasn’t addressed it,” Holden noted.
“I can point to almost every construction site in our area,” Holden said of identifying construction violations.
“They can’t sustain any kind of effort. They just don’t have the qualified personnel,” he said. “The mayor’s got to invest in the City.”
Councilman Tony Avella, chair of the City’s Zoning and Franchises sub-committee, said he didn’t believe the increased numbers were indicative of a major change in the department.
“The situation is out of control with that agency,” Avella said. “Things are not getting better. On paper they make it look like they’re making huge improvements and things are just as bad as they’ve ever been.”
He added, “It’s like the Wild West over there in terms of construction – anything goes.”
Avella said the department should be doing more with elected representatives and community groups to address what the department can do to help communities.
In 2005, Councilman Eric Gioia, head of the Council Committee on Oversight and Investigation, released a report about unresolved buildings complaints in Queens, only to find that the Department of Buildings numbers upon which the report was based were flawed. Though the message of the report was still valid, it also underscored a systemic lack of awareness within the department of its own problems.
“These past few years, Queens has been experiencing growing pains, with development outpacing the Department of Buildings’ ability to keep up with complaints,” Gioia wrote in a statement this week. “If they’re increasing inspections, that’s a good thing. These buildings need to be subject to the appropriate oversight both to ensure that construction is complying with all zoning and building codes, and to ensure the safety of the sites and the workers.”
This third story addition in Kew Gardens Hills was approved two years ago as a remodel of a two-story hone, |
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