> Caller complaints lack of permits, lack of listed permit, work > after hours – 99% unsubstantiated claims and when the important > call came seems to me like no one took it seriously anymore. I > just wonder how many times you can call DOB, DOT just to keep busy > police and DOB squads, knowing that the work will be continued > anyway because serious money are involved and city is eager to > start its collections. The inspectors instead to do their job, > which is public safety are just run around to be a nuisance in > service of unfulfilled neighbors. > I agree with Ralph that the City is not so much motivated to speed a project intent on collections, they already have collections for one thing, the other is that there is just too damned much going on in the City for it to keep track of much of anything in any conscious manner. I would also say that the majority of DOB employees, and inspectors, are dedicated, and frustrated people that wake up wanting to do a decent job of it. Frustrated because the beast of the City is so large, diverse, and happening all over the place and they are small pieces in a very big organism that is going to do what it does. Granted there is always corruption somewhere, but it is not anywhere near as prevalent on the street as it used to be. That said, on non-union project last year the union outfit down the street had a habit of coming over to the project and tearing down the permits posted by the GC and then calling the local police precinct. The police would show up and even though the project had ALL of the required permits the permits were not posted, since they had been stolen/vandalized, and the police had to do something with their time and would issue citations to anyone in the vicinity, including the contractor on the adjacent building for having their dumpster over a previously unrecognized line... the contractor on the neighboring building did not get the summons, the GC whose dumpster it was not -- they got the summons. Then there was the lady across the street that did not want the project to happen and she kept calling the police as well. Working in the city always has neighbors and public presence and it is not unusual, or an unfounded concern of contractors to ask, "Do you all get along with your neighbors?" We had one project where the neighbors were pissed at the owner and they kept throwing rocks at us as we worked. What bothers me, usually, is that when that question is asked about the neighbors if they are friendly it is usually answered with a statement to the effect that nobody knows and/or it is the problem of the contractor. Really nice to see the sequence. I have been looking at the shots on the television and could not figure out if it was actually a crane or an elevator. I can imagine the press confusing an elevator with a crane. As to the developer, what will hurt for them is that now there will be a delay. One comment I heard was that the GC was not to blame as they had subcontracted the crane. Nice to say that but when the lawsuits begin it will go to whomever has the deepest pockets and the least fight to defend themselves. I would not be surprised if this incident is still in the courts 10 years from now. Moral of the story: stay away from FUBAR. wodka is wodka ][<en -- Orgrease-Crankbait <http://orgrease-crankbait.blogspot.com/> Video, audio, writings, words, spoken word, dialogs, graphic collage and the art of fiction in language and literature. -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>