« Demolition Resumes at Former Bakery in Ratner ‘Footprint’ | Main | What Kind of President Would Michael Bloomberg Be? »
July 6, 2007
Awaiting the AY ombudsperson, as the Ward Bakery work resumes
Atlantic Yards Report
Nearly two months ago, on May 7, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) announced "new oversight measures" for the Atlantic Yards project. Among them:
ESDC intends to hire an Atlantic Yards ombudsperson who will work as a full-time liaison between ESDC, elected officials, community representatives and the general public. The ombudsperson will ensure that residents remain in the loop, and that community concerns receive proper attention.*
But no ombudsperson has yet been hired. Why? ESDC spokesman A.J. Carter responded in a statement, "Since this administration took office Jan. 1, we have focused not just on filling jobs, but on filling them with the right people. We are in the final stages of the process and expect to have the ombudsperson hired soon.”
But the lack of an "ombuddy" hasn't stopped the Deparment of Buildings (DOB) from lifting the stop-work order for the Ward Bakery building, even though the agency's investigation has not been concluded. Norman Oder scours the DOB statement for clues of what may have gone wrong back in April when the parapet fell:
From the DOB statement:
In addition, the developer has revised its means and methods plan for abatement and demolition operations to ensure the sequence of both types of work do not interfere with one another.
Oder muses:
The bolded statement above, in which the developer pledges to ensure that abatement and demolition do not interfere with one another, suggests a possible clue regarding the earlier incident.
Did a hasty effort to accomplish too much lead to the fall of the parapet? Perhaps the investigation will explain. The imposition of the "new protective measures" implies that the previous procedures lacked such measures.
Posted by lumi at July 6, 2007 9:01 AM