OVER 1000 SMOKING VIOLATIONS FILED BY CITY AT CONSTRUCTION SITES OVER PAST YEAR
Jump to full article: New York Post, 2009-08-03
Author: DAN MANGAN
Intro: New York construction sites are smokin' hot -- and that's bad.
A nearly yearlong crackdown on smoking at construction sites around the city by the Buildings Department has resulted in almost 1,000 violations being issued and $1.8 million in fines, The Post has learned.
The butt blitz -- the first time the department has cited contractors for smoking violations -- began last Sept. 6. It was spurred by the 2007 deaths of two firefighters in a cigarette-sparked blaze at the troubled Deutsche Bank demolition site near Ground Zero.
"It's a disgrace that people continue to smoke on construction sites," said Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri. "Smoking is prohibited on construction sites for a reason -- because it puts lives at serious risk."
"Our inspectors will continue to enforce the smoking ban because the industry has got to change."
As of last Wednesday, LiMandri's inspectors had issued 932 violations . . .
The most-cited site -- with nine smoking-related violations -- was the ongoing construction of the 57-story W hotel/condo building at 123 Washington St. That's right across the street from the Deutsche Bank site, where firefighters Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia were killed on April 18, 2007.
The Post recently was told that FDNY officials suspect that a cigar butt found at the Deutsche Bank site at 130 Liberty St. on June 10 -- which led to a violation being issued to the contractor, Bovis -- actually fell or was tossed from the W site.
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