Stringer slams DOB on elevator inspections

The average number of elevator inspections performed by the Department of Buildings has dropped by 28 percent since 2008, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer told the New York Post.

Figures compiled by Stringer’s office show an average of 7,930 inspections per month between January 2006 and Sept. 2008. But the average number between September 2008 and June 2011 was only 5,723.

The Post noted that Stringer has contended for years that elevator oversight should be moved to a separate city agency that doesn’t have its hands full.  As The Real Deal has reported, the DOB has modified its procedures in the wake of other well-publicized scandals, such as the crane collapse at the Azure in 2008.

“Getting into an elevator shouldn’t be an act of faith,” Stringer said. “The Department of Buildings is not doing enough to guarantee the safety of New York elevators.

A spokesperson for the DOB told the New York Observer that his department “is conducting far more comprehensive inspections of… elevators than ever before.” [Post and NYO]