DOB suspends Queens contractor after house collapse

A Queens-based construction company is barred from working in the city after a floor collapsed at one of its sites in Astoria and seriously injured three workers.

The city’s Department of Buildings suspended the registration of Ideal Builders and Construction and its superintendent, Fazal Hassan, the agency announced on Wednesday. The suspension follows the injury of three workers at 31-25 28th Road in Astoria, where a newly built third floor collapsed on June 20. According to the DOB, Hassan allowed heavy construction materials — including cinderblocks — to be loaded onto the unstable floor, without first having an engineer assess its safety.

The weight of the materials caused the floor to collapse through the second and first floors, and then the basement, where workers were trapped.

Hassan could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

“Mr. Hassan and his firm neglected their duties on this and other construction sites and showed disregard for the lives of workers and the public,” DOB Commissioner Rick Chandler said in a statement.

Before the accident, Ideal had racked up 14 public safety violations in the past two years. The DOB also found that Hassan was working as a site superintendent on more than 10 jobs — the maximum permitted under city law — at the time of the accident.

The suspension is the latest disciplinary action taken by the DOB against alleged “bad actors” who violate city construction codes and zoning resolutions. The agency has cracked down against several architects and engineers since March.