Buildings Commissioner resigns

Coming under fire from many city officials in the wake of a rash of deadly construction accidents, Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Patricia Lancaster resigned from her post on Tuesday, April 22.
Lancaster, who has served as DOB Commissioner for the past six years, submitted her letter of resignation to Mayor Bloomberg on Tuesday morning saying that it was time to return to the private sector.
“I am proud of the groundbreaking work the department has done during my tenure to root out corruption, increase transparency, overhaul the building code and increase safety for workers and the public alike,” Lancaster said in a statement.
This year, 13 deaths have resulted from construction-related accidents in the city - including a crane collapse in Manhattan that killed seven last month.
“I think that it was a decision that had to be made,” said City Councilmember Leroy Comrie, who sits on the council’s Housing and Buildings Committee that has oversight of the DOB. “She clearly had taken the department as far as she could take it.”
Comrie said that although the deaths at construction sites are the most conspicuous negative events surrounding the DOB, they were not its only issues.
“Clearly the department had some real problems with being able to continue to do all the work necessary to keep up with what they had to do,” Comrie said. “There were just too many mistakes, too many lapses and too much falling apart at many levels to justify her staying.”
Bloomberg accepted Lancaster’s resignation on Tuesday.
“Patricia leaves a strong foundation of reform and improvement for her successors to build on, and I thank her for her dedication to making New York City a far better place to live, work, and visit,” he said.