City’s own buildings rife with code violations

City Council member Gale Brewer announced that she will launch an investigation into building conditions within the city’s real estate portfolio after the Daily News reported hundreds of open code violations at city-owned properties. Among the high-profile buildings implicated in the report: One Police Plaza and the Manhattan Criminal Court, each of which have around 100 violations, Gracie Mansion, which had 16, and the Department of Buildings’ own headquarters at 280 Broadway, which had 20. Most of the infractions aren’t a threat to safety, but some are more serious, like the four Environmental Control Board violations at One Police Plaza, including one for failing to prove that emergency exits have their own power supply. At the DOB’s home base, cracked facades and unsatisfactory fire prevention systems were cited. And the Manhattan Criminal Court on Centre Street doesn’t even have a final certificate of occupancy — the last temporary certificate was issued in 1984, during the Koch administration. City officials insisted that the outstanding violations were all either being addressed already or were only the result of lax paperwork. Brewer, who heads the Committee on Governmental Operations, said she plans to hold a hearing to ask officials at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services where things went wrong. [NYDN]