Fast-Buck Construction Behind Crane Disaster

By Gabe Falsetta

NEW YORK — A crane collapse here May 30, killing two construction workers, brought the total of construction-related deaths in the city since January to 19. There have been 31 deaths of construction workers on the job here in the last seven months, a big increase over previous years.

This latest dramatic accident, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has drawn the attention and conversation of New Yorkers to the crisis brought about by out-of-control for-profit development in the city.

A previous crane collapse on Manhattan’s East Side in April killed seven people and injured several more, leading to the forced resignation of New York City Building Commissioner Patricia Lancaster. But sacrificing Lancaster as a scapegoat has not freed Mayor Michael Bloomberg from blame.

Bloomberg has been the architect of the construction boom in the city, which has emphasized for-profit residential and commercial development through tax and other incentives, rezoning and public financing of massive building projects.

High-rise building construction in particular has been growing exponentially, but not without problems. High-rise buildings require special cranes and equipment that are dangerous and require specialized training and safety measures. But city oversight offices may not be up to the challenge.

According to the Department of Buildings, the number of complaints has increased to 140,000 a year from 38,000 in 2002.

Bloomberg and acting Building Commissioner Robert Li Mandri planned to hire 63 additional inspectors for building sites, bringing the number of inspectors to 461. It was too little too late for the workers who died May 30.

Hundreds of worksites and dozens of cranes are in operation in the city. The Department of Buildings is evaluating conditions at sites across the city.

Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employer’s Association, a trade organization of unionized construction contractors, who was on a taskforce created by Lancaster earlier this year, said many small firms that use non-union labor openly flout laws and regulations. “They don’t file building permits,” said Coletti. “They don’t care about their workers. They don’t care about public safety. They want to get in, get the job done, go to the next one and put the money in their pocket.”

Of course, the contractors are not the only ones to blame. The various city agencies mandated with oversight of construction and buildings often look the other way or aid in substandard, unsafe or overtly illegal construction. After the crane collapse in April, Lancaster revealed that the high-rise being built was erroneously granted a building permit in violation of zoning laws. A complaint at the site went uninvestigated. The inspector admitted to signing off on the crane without actually visiting the site.

The site where the crane fell last week had a slew of violations and complaints against it, some related to the crane’s use. It appears that workers, nearby residents and passers-by were at risk long before the crane fell.

Local construction workers marked Workers Memorial Day (April 28) this year by mourning the loss of the many coworkers who have died in the past few months. At a service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Edward Malloy, president of the New York Building and Construction Trades Council, said, “No one will forget the fallen workers because the legacy of all construction workers ... is the skyline of New York.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) called for an investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Gov. David Paterson announced a state investigation into the latest accident. Bloomberg was angered by both initiatives, insisting that the Department of Buildings was not at fault and arguing that “construction is a dangerous business and you will always have fatalities.”

Many fear that until major changes are made to slow and regulate the building boom in New York City, we are likely to have more construction workers — and perhaps bystanders — die from the construction crisis.

Libero Della Piana contributed to this article.

Reprinted from the People's Weekly World.

Ground Zero Fire, Deaths Spur Questions

By Bill Davis

NEW YORK — Six years after the 9/11 attack, the fog of profiteering, corruption and secrecy continues to whirl around the demolition and reconstruction of the World Trade Center site.

The latest deaths in the ongoing tragedy were those of two firefighters killed fighting a fire in the adjacent Deutsche Bank building in August this year. Even as those deaths were being memorialized, two more firefighters were injured in a construction accident at the site. The building was so badly contaminated and damaged on Sept. 11, 2001, that both decontamination and demolition are needed.

A cigarette butt left by construction workers ignited debris causing the deadly fire. Fire standpipes had apparently been cut or damaged by subcontractors so water didn’t flow to the fire hoses.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has tried to blame the deaths on three high-ranking fire department officers who were said to have failed to have the building inspected or develop a plan for fighting a fire at the site. Firefighters have said they were discouraged from doing proper fire safety inspections by the city and demolition contractors.

Another factor contributing to the tragedy may have been subcontracting the demolition “on the cheap” to the John Galt Corp., an entity made up of executives of Safeway Environmental, a company criticized by New York City investigators because of ties to organized crime. The John Galt Corp. also has ties to Bloomberg’s administration.

Another subcontractor, North American Site Developers, Inc., indicated that it withdrew from the project after its president got an anonymous telephone threat.

The New York Daily News reports that state officials knew all along that yet another company, Rapid Demolition, with a history of worksite fires, was actually working on the demolition under subcontract to Safeway Environmental.

John Galt Corp. has since been fired.

Although the fire released toxic contaminants into the air of lower Manhattan, Bloomberg and city officials quickly gave an all-clear on air safety.

On this Sept. 11, the federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered the Deutsche Bank building sealed and all demolition work halted pending a full investigation and a new plan for safe cleanup.

First responders involved in rescue and search efforts at the WTC site, as well as area residents, say they have ongoing concerns about asbestos and other toxic pollutants in the air. The fears have been made stronger by high rates of illness and death suffered by those working and living in the area, and by public officials’ secret planning for rebuilding the site. Many cite the dissemination of false information by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Bush administration officials in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, claiming that the area was safe when in fact it was not.

Many say the main driving motive in this continuing drama has been the profits to be made from some of the world’s most valuable real estate. The scramble to get at least some part of the profits and the uncertainties of the real estate market, with the threat of a big downturn in the near future, has produced both an unseemly haste to move forward (running roughshod over sensibilities of victims’ families) and protracted struggles for control among city, state and federal agencies and developers (which have slowed down the rebuilding process considerably).

City officials have several times declared the search for victims’ body fragments complete in order to fast-forward demolition and rebuilding, only to be forced to retreat after further discoveries. Victims’ friends and relatives have had to press for a suitable monument to be included in the plans. Ceremonies to mark the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks were forced away from Ground Zero so that the events would not interfere with construction.

This article was first published by the People's Weekly World.

Can't Stand the Heat in the Kitchen

You might not have fond memories of school lunches. I ate, but rarely cherished, lunches in school and during the summer at a Department of Recreation camp. As a kid I never thought about where the lunches came from or who cooked them. As I grew older and worked in several kitchens, I started to pay attention to the workers behind the meals.

The summer school free breakfast and lunch program is helping to turn out millions of essential meals for New York’s children. It is also cooking some of the workers who help to provide the meals.

Many of the New York City school kitchens do not have proper cooling systems and temperatures in the summer can soar to over 100 degrees. Many kitchens need upgraded air conditioning systems, some need more efficient stoves, others need new ventilation and exhaust systems. The Gotham Gazette reported in January 2006 that

“about 25 percent of school kitchens do not have a required hood system, which sucks hot air and grease into a vent and will drop a foam substance in the event of a fire.”

Without these safety systems in place, the schools must use convection ovens, which blow hot air to warm food, and make kitchens even more uncomfortable.

There is currently no federal or state legislation to protect kitchen workers from excessive heat in their workplaces. The New York State legislature has voted to pass such legislation for the last four years, each time vetoed by then governor Pataki. This year New York State Assembly Bill A02514A is waiting to be signed by current governor Elliott Spitzer. The governor has not stated whether he will sign the current legislation.

The bill is being opposed by Mayor Bloomberg claiming that it is “too expensive” to convert the cooling systems to regulate the temperatures in all school kitchens.

The bill’s author Assemblywoman Susan John's spokesman, Allan Richards was quoted in The Chief-Civil Service Leader newspaper saying,

"The cost is borne by the New York State Board of Education. The Legislature has appropriated $1.8 billion for school construction, so it's no longer a non-funded mandate."

Tony Ferina, a shop steward for Local 372 of District Council 37 AFSCME, which represents the kitchen workers, told the Chief,

"Whether or not you get in a school where there's air-conditioning is like hitting the lottery. A lot of the members are in their 50s. I think it's abuse."

It is ridiculous to make anyone work in excessive heat. Working in kitchens without proper ventilation should be criminal. People should not have to worry about passing out or vomiting from heat while on the job.

I have worked as a short order cook and with only one stove and one fryer it was always hot, even with a large exhaust fan. Without the exhaust fan I cannot imagine how unbearable it would have been.

Let’s hope Spitzer has more sense than his predecessor and signs this sensible bill into law.