The
state has "grave
concerns" about
recent safety
problems at the
toxic Deutsche Bank
tower, where two
firefighters died in
2007, the Daily News
has learned.
In the past three
months, a series of
potentially deadly
blunders set off
alarms with the
Lower Manhattan
Development Corp.,
the agency
overseeing
demolition of the
troubled building
next to Ground Zero.
A spotlight melted;
a wrench dropped by
a worker fell 225
feet, hitting
another laborer; a
sidewalk shed was
gashed; diesel oil
spilled on Greenwich
St.; a Bobcat loader
nearly plunged
through a hole in a
deck, and a
blowtorch was used
too close to a fuel
tank.
This occurred
despite all the
attention given the
site after
Firefighters Robert
Beddia and Joseph
Graffagnino died in
an August 2007 fire
that turned fatal
because of unsafe
conditions created
during demolition.
"The building was a
deathtrap back then,
and unfortunately,
you have to wonder
if it's still a
deathtrap today,"
said Joseph
Graffagnino Sr.,
whose son perished
on a 14th-floor
landing.
In a Jan. 29 letter,
LMDC President David
Emil warned
contractor Bovis
Lend Lease that its
safety record at the
site was a "failure"
and its management
of the job
"unacceptable."
Emil ordered Bovis
to shake up top
staff and overhaul
safety operations
immediately.
"There has been a
failure by senior
management at Bovis
to properly manage
safety issues," Emil
told The News. "We
have grave concerns
about the quality of
their work, and
we're expressing
that very forcefully
to them."
Bovis has agreed to
review "the entire
project - including
safety processes,
protocol and
personnel," said
Mary Costello, a
Bovis senior vice
president.
As the general
contractor at the
site, the Australian
firm has been
closely watched
since it narrowly
escaped indictment
for its role in the
Aug. 18, 2007, fire.
That scrutiny is
intensifying. Last
month alone, the
city Buildings
Department slapped
Bovis or its
subcontractors with
at least a dozen
safety violations,
alleging offenses
that could endanger
the lives of workers
and the safety of
the public.
That's more
infractions in a
single month than
any time since the
seven-alarm fire.
Bovis would not
address specific
violations; it plans
to appeal most of
them.
Costello noted there
have been "zero
lost-time injuries
to workers or
injuries to the
public" in the past
three months.
Emil countered,
"There could have
been - and that's
simply
unacceptable."
Shrouded in black
netting, New York's
most hated
skyscraper - its
1,750 windows and
158,000 square feet
of office space
destroyed in the
Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks -
was bought by the
LMDC in 2004.
Bovis began
abatement and
demolition of the
41-story tower in
2006, a simultaneous
process that turned
the building into a
fire hazard.
A Bovis site safety
manager and a
reputedly
mob-connected
subcontractor, the
John Galt Co., were
indicted on
manslaughter and
other charges. The
case is pending.
Bovis avoided
prosecution by
signing an agreement
with the prosecutors
and pledging
millions of dollars
for a fire safety
academy, among other
things.
After stripping the
building of
potential toxins
over a two-year
period, the company
resumed demolition
last Nov. 9 of what
had become a
26-story building.
dfeiden@nydailynews.com
