Browse > Home / construction / Officials Broaden Focus of Inquiry Into Corruption in Crane Inspections

Officials Broaden Focus of Inquiry Into Corruption in Crane Inspections

June 12, 2008

The authorities have widened their criminal investigation of potential corruption inside the Department of Buildings’ crane inspection operations to focus on several current and former agency employees who had responsibilities in that area, a law enforcement official involved in the inquiry said on Wednesday.

Last week the investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the city’s Department of Investigation led to the arrest of the city’s chief crane inspector, James Delayo, who is accused of taking bribes over a period of years.

Authorities are now focusing more broadly on the Buildings Department’s Cranes and Derricks Unit, a small division responsible for licensing and inspecting cranes, the official said.

Investigators will also examine the process by which the Buildings Department issues licenses to the workers who operate tower cranes like the massive machines that collapsed in two fatal accidents in less than three months. The accidents, on March 15 on East 51st Street and May 30 on East 91st Street, killed nine people and are the subject of separate criminal inquires.

In arresting Mr. Delayo, 60, on felony bribe-receiving charges on Friday, investigators accused him of taking thousands of dollars in exchange for allowing cranes to pass inspection and for ensuring that one crane company’s employees would pass a licensing test to operate smaller cranes. He was also accused of selling a copy of the test and its answers to the crane company.

“The investigation that was focused on the crane collapse and the circumstances under which that happened has expanded into the licensing of crane operators as well as the yearly inspections of cranes themselves,” the official said.

Mr. Delayo was the second member of the unit to be arrested in less than three months, leaving just four inspectors assigned to the Cranes and Derricks Unit. In March, another inspector, Edward J. Marquette, was charged with faking a report that said he visited the crane on East 51st Street in response to a complaint a week before it collapsed, although officials said it was highly unlikely that the missed inspection was related to the accident.

The official said that while Mr. Delayo was accused of taking bribes for ensuring that a handful of licenses for small cranes — known as Class C licenses — were issued, “prudence would dictate that you have to look at a broader picture of licensing,” particularly the Class B licenses under which workers operate the larger cranes. The official noted that a recent state report found a range of improprieties in the issuance of crane licenses outside New York City and thus underscored the opportunities for corruption in the licensing process.

Kate Lindquist, a spokeswoman for the Buildings Department, said on Wednesday that the agency would have no comment on reports of an expanding review of crane operations.

The accidents and investigations come at a time when the city’s Buildings Department — for decades plagued by mismanagement and a culture of corruption — is again the focus of intense scrutiny. In the face of an unprecedented building boom, and despite measures aimed at modernizing its operations and increasing safety, it is struggling to deal with a rash of construction deaths and inspection lapses.

In April, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg forced out his building commissioner, Patricia J. Lancaster, who was widely respected in the construction and design industries.

The administration has yet to name her successor, and one official has expressed concern about its difficulties finding a replacement. The agency is being run by an acting commissioner, Robert LiMandri, but he does not have the requisite professional certification as an engineer or architect, although he has an undergraduate degree in engineering.

Despite the slumping economy, the pace of construction in the city has been barely affected. So the workload for the inspectors in the small Cranes and Derricks Unit has continued unabated, despite the widening investigation.

After the March collapse, the Buildings Department assigned eight inspectors from a special rapid response unit within the agency to work with the Cranes and Derricks inspectors and changed the protocol so that two inspectors go on each site visit.

Ms. Lindquist said the department was conducting more inspections because of the added staff in the unit and protocols that required more scrutiny.

Last week, on the day of Mr. Delayo’s arrest, Mr. LiMandri issued a statement saying the agency was overhauling the unit, where he said there was “much work to be done.”

“Our No. 1 priority is to ensure the department’s staff conduct their jobs with the utmost integrity as we continue to forge ahead with our reforms,” he said.

Officials said the investigation remained in an early stage.

“We’ve gotten a handful of tips, based on the recent arrest, and we’re following up on those tips as we would in any case,” said Daniel J. Castleman, the chief assistant in the district attorney’s office. “And we certainly encourage anyone with information to call and tell us what they know, either as an anonymous source or by identifying themselves.”

Source: NY Times

Related Articles

Written by NY Politics · Filed Under construction 

Comment on this article