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New York

Council member asks DOB to suspend contractor on Rabsky site

Van Bramer says department is “quite familiar” with developer

City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer and a rendering of 42-20 27th Street (Credit: ODA New York)
City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer and a rendering of 42-20 27th Street (Credit: ODA New York)

UPDATED, Aug. 10, 3:15 p.m.: City Council member Jimmy Van Bramer wants the Department of Buildings to suspend a contractor who was working on a Rabsky Group construction project in Long Island City where six workers were injured in June.

The council member asked the DOB to suspend the license of Galaxy Developers LLC, which was working on the site at 42-20 27th Street when a concrete form collapsed and injured workers. The DOB has already suspended another contractor, Ideal Builders and Construction, following an earlier accident in Queens.

“Galaxy should, at least, receive the same treatment that Ideal Builders and Construction received after the accident in Astoria,” Van Bramer wrote in a letter to the DOB last week.

He asked the department to suspend Galaxy’s registration pending an independent review of work already done at the site and proof that sufficient safety training is being provided.

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A spokesperson for Rabsky said, “The accident is now under investigation by the NYC Department of Buildings, and the project’s developer is awaiting the DOB’s findings. The developer will follow the DOB’s recommendations regarding Galaxy and the subcontractor it hired, Sunshine Concrete.”

Rabsky, one of the biggest residential developers in Brooklyn and Queens, has been constructing an 18-story, 140,000-square-foot building at the site. The company, led by Simon Dushinsky and Isaac Rabinowitz, increased the unit count from 99 to 195 apartments in November 2015.

Van Bramer said the DOB is “quite familiar” with Rabsky, which as logged “serious violations” on its Long Island City site at 44-42 Purves Street.

“We believe serious action by the DOB could be an effective deterrent on this developer and its contractor, potentially spurring increased compliance,” he wrote. — Rich Bockmann

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Construction AccidentsDevelopmentJimmy Van BramerPoliticsRabsky Group