From left: Mike Kelly, John Rhea, Michael Bloomberg and Shaun Donovan

New York City Housing Authority general manager Mike Kelly has been asked to temporarily lead the Philadelphia Housing Authority — with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s blessing. Kelly, who has operated under commissioner John Rhea, will be responsible for “leading Philadelphia through [a] transition period,” Bloomberg said. The new role, for which he was recruited by Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, comes after Kelly completed a mixed-finance transaction that brought $300 million in additional capital to the city agency, Bloomberg said. Kelly has previously worked with housing agencies in San Francisco, New Orleans and the District of Columbia. TRD

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The city Department of Buildings announced it will share information
about tower cranes with Chicago and Philadelphia in an effort to track
equipment failures, recalls, accidents and industry trends. Over the
past year, 12 tower cranes have come to New York City from other
places. The new system will track where the cranes work, who owns them
and will include any information on accidents involving the machines.
This is the latest in a series of measures instituted after two tower
crane accidents in Manhattan resulted in nine people dead last year.
There is currently no national database to track tower cranes and their
parts, and several other places, including California, Connecticut and
Dallas, have expressed interest in the new program. [more]