City’s failure to fix crane problems “inexcusable”: Stringer

Report finds that only eight of 65 safety recommendations have been fully implemented

From left: Scott Stringer and the May 2008 crane collapse on the Upper East Side
From left: Scott Stringer and the May 2008 crane collapse on the Upper East Side

After two deadly crane collapses that killed nine people in 2008, the city failed to implement most of the changes it was supposed to, a new report from the comptroller’s office reveals.

The Department of Buildings paid private consultants $5.8 million to put together the recommendations, which included 65 proposals to improve safety, according to the New York Daily News. Roughly four years later, the city has implemented only eight of the 65 recommendations.

The report also found that 17 were partially implemented and 18 were in progress, according to the newspaper, while the remaining 22 had not been addressed at all.

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Building officials promised they’d implement 49 of the 65 changes in two years, according to the newspaper.

“When those cranes collapsed, so too did public confidence in how those construction sites were managed,” said Scott Stringer, according to the newspaper. “The lack of a strong government commitment to fix this problem is inexcusable.”

Seven people died when a 300-foot crane collapsed on East 51st Street in March 2008. In May of that same year, two construction workers died in a collapse on East 91st Street. [NYDN] — Claire Moses