The city’s Department of Buildings handed out fliers Wednesday in Brooklyn detailing the dangers of illegally converted apartments, following the death of an East New York tenant, who was unable to escape his illegal cellar unit during a fire (see flier after the jump).

The DOB, which is also raising awareness of the issue on Twitter, included a list of common traits among illegal apartments in its pamphlet, including padlocks on bedroom doors and electricity supplied by extension cords. Also of concern are cellar apartments and attic units, which often don’t provide enough exits. [more]

From left: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri, Deputy Mayor for Operations Stephen Goldsmith and a sample QR code

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today the use of Quick Response, or QR, codes on all Department of Building permits, providing New Yorkers with instant access to information related to buildings and construction sites throughout New York City. He was joined by Deputy Mayor for Operations Stephen Goldsmith and DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri. QR codes grant smartphone users immediate access to data by scanning the displayed code with their device. By downloading a free application on a smartphone, New Yorkers will be able to scan the QR code of any construction permit and instantly learn details about the ongoing project, including the identities of the property owner and complaints and violations related to the location. TRD [more]

A tenant in an illegal apartment in East New York died after being trapped in the cellar dwelling during a small fire early this morning, according to the Department of Buildings. The two-story building at 568 Drew Street had been illegally converted to accommodate a basement tenant, a DOB spokesperson said.

Firefighters received a call alerting them to the blaze at 4:49 a.m. and arrived at the scene at 4:52 a.m., according to a spokesperson for the New York City Fire Department. The fire was under control at 5:23 a.m.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the New York City Police Department, according to a NYPD spokesperson. [more]

While major construction is still experiencing a slowdown in New York City, smaller renovations and demolitions are on the upswing, Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri told the New York Times. His department just released its annual report, which shows small-scale alterations up 6 percent despite the 19 percent drop in permits for new buildings and major alterations, and there have been seven or eight site demolitions within the past several weeks. “When you see demolitions come back, it’s a leading indicator that development is coming,” LiMandri said. [more]

Construction-related accidents in New York City declined 28 percent in 2010 compared to the previous year, Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri announced today. In 2010, there were 157 reported construction-related accidents, compared to 218 in 2009, a decrease that the city attributes to stricter safety requirements and greater outreach to the members of the industry. There were four fatal construction-related accidents in 2010, a 78 percent decrease from 2008. Meanwhile, new construction permits for new buildings citywide declined 7 percent, to 1,517 in 2010 from 1,635 in 2009. [more]

Ever since Eugene Corcoran, a former United States Marshal and 20-year veteran of the New York Police Department, took office in May as the Deputy Commissioner of Enforcement at the Department of Buildings, he’s been using his previous experience to target absentee building owners and unscrupulous contractors. “If there’s an owner or a landlord or a licensed professional who is violating his oath of office… we’ll be looking to hold them accountable,” Corcoran told DNAinfo. Corcoran said he hopes to use more creative approaches to tackle existing problems. [more]

The city’s still-burgeoning list of stalled construction projects appears to be letting up, with 364 project sites having restarted construction work since February 2009, the Department of Buildings told the Wall Street Journal. Of those projects, 94 have been completed. Most were residential and in either Brooklyn or Queens. DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri attributed the restarts to a new citywide program that allows developers to extend their building permits for four years in exchange for adhering to stricter safety regulations. In the past, developers had to start the permit process from scratch after one year, which contributed to delays. As of April 25, the city’s list of stalled construction sites stood at 576, up from 515 stalled sites at the end of November. [WSJ]

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Only a handful of developers who own the nearly 600 stalled construction sites in New York City are participating in a city program in which developers maintain their sites in exchange for an extension of their building permits, Robert Limandri, commissioner of the city’s Department of Buildings, said this morning.

Owners of a dozen sites out of the 572 stalled sites the city is tracking are in talks with the city, Limandri said.

“We are working with about 12 different sites that are in the process of getting approved [for the city program],” he said. But he expected that number to rise in the next four months as the developers come up against the expiration of their permits.

Limandri was speaking on a panel of industry experts in Midtown sponsored by the trade group, the Greater New York Construction User Council.

Under DOB regulations, a site that is stalled for 12 months must reapply for its permits. But that is seen as a particularly difficult task in the current downturn because there was a rush to get projects in the ground under the now-outdated building code that was revamped in 2008. [more]

The last man to touch the crane that crashed into 80 Maiden Lane Saturday night is getting at least part of the blame for the incident, according to the city’s Department of Buildings. Christopher Cosban, a crane operator from Huntington, LI who was working with the mobile crane earlier in the day, did not secure the equipment when he was finished with it at around 6 p.m., said a spokesperson for Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri. The crane, owned by Bay Crane and rented by Skylift, subsequently crashed into the Lower Manhattan office and retail property, the former Fire Companies building, at around 7:30 p.m. Cosban has been suspended from working with city cranes, pending a hearing that is scheduled for next week. The investigation is continuing, while the crane has been removed from the site and it is unclear when work will resume. [Post] [more]

From left: Steven Spinola, Lou Coletti, and Robert LiMandri

Construction and real estate industry organizations are in conversations with the city’s Department of Buildings to make the permitting and development process more predictable in the face of possible service reductions resulting from looming budget cuts, a trade group leader said.
Building Trades Employers’ Association chairman and CEO Louis Coletti said DOB commissioner Robert LiMandri asked his organization and the Real Estate Board of New York to identify major priorities such as ways to improve the city’s processing of building applications.
“A lot of the concerns we have is the department’s ability to respond quickly [during the permitting process], especially in an economic era where [it is likely] most city agencies are going to have less resources,” he said. [more]