Judge Faults Buildings Department After Fatal 2016 Crane Collapse

TRIBECA, NY — A judge chided the city's buildings department this month for signing off on stowage plans for a crane shortly before its 2016 collapse left a person dead in Tribeca.

Administrative law judge Ingrid Addison laid the bulk of the blame on the crane's operator Kevin Reilly, who was manning the massive machinery at 60 Hudson St. in February 2016 when the collapse happened. Addison called Reilly's actions before the fatal accident "negligent."

But Addison also faulted the Department of Buildings, whose inspectors failed "to recognize the job application's obvious shortcomings" after receiving an "unachievable" stowage plan for the crane from MRA Engineering and Galasso Trucking and Rigging Incorporated, the companies that were using and engineering the crane.

Addison wrote that "common sense inquiries" should have been asked by the Department of Buildings when "obvious documents are missing from an application." The New York Post first reported on Addison's findings.

The massive crane, which at the time was one of the largest in operation in New York City, collapsed on Feb. 5, 2016 amid strong winds and steady snow in the city. The bulk of the crane fell onto Worth Street, killing a 38-year-old man and wounding three other people.

In the wake of the collapse, the city's building commissioner banned certain cranes from city streets and insisted others must lower their booms to the ground during heavy winds.

"We disagree in the strongest possible terms with how the judge portrayed our role in the crane-approval process," a spokesman for the Department of Buildings said in a statement.

"DOB carefully reviews crane plans for safety – this is our core mission," the statement read. "We do the same thing for tens of thousands of plans each and every year, on everything from cranes to new skyscrapers to backyard decks."

The department reiterated its stance that the collapse happened because of "operator error."

Addison issued her report on April 10 after a 10-day trial in June last year. She recommended that Reilly's license be revoked.

Patch was not immediately able to contact Reilly for comment.

Image credit: Courtesy of FDNY