City Crane inspector arrested after collapse

Real Estate Weekly, March 26, 2008 by John Majeski

A city official lied about inspecting a crane that later toppled over, leaving seven dead.

Edward Marquette, 46, was arrested last week and charged with falsifying city records. Yet the city has said the incident would not have prevented the March 15 crane collapse on East 51st Street because the device had a different configuration when Marquette claimed it was looked over 11 days earlier.

This leaves experts continuing to hunt for an answer to the question on everyone's mind: "Why?" City Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster, meanwhile, has been taking heat for what has become a growing list of construction mishaps in the city.

"What more evidence do we need?" Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer asked in a prepared statement following the arrest. "It is clear we cannot trust the buildings department to keep construction sites safe. We need ... a complete top to bottom independent review of this dept, its procedures and its personnel."

The parties connected to the condominium construction project have kept mum.

A woman who answered the phone at Joy Contractors Inc, the Elizabeth, NJ-based crane operator, said the company would have no comment.

Likewise, no one returned a phone message left for James Kennelly, the lead partner for the East 51st Development Company, which is building the 43-story condominium project where the crane toppled over. Kennelly, a former firefighter, heads Kennelly Development. Formed in 1986, Kennelly Development has been responsible for residential projects such as the Sycamore on East 30th Street; 8 Beach Street, an 8-story loft building; and Black Hall, 21-23 South William Street, a $20 million overhaul for luxury condominiums with a retail component.

One bystander and six construction workers were killed when the 19-story crane came crashing down. As of last week, the investigation continued to focus largely on nylon straps meant to provide support.

The tragedy has caused the industry to look inward. The Building Trades Employers' Association and the 100,000-member Building and Construction Trades Council announced they will be hiring an independent safety consultant to review their own current construction methods.

They also began the re-inspection of all crane operations, a step the New York Department of Buildings has decided to take as well.

According to the BTEA, their high-rise contractors provide advance safety planning, exceeding New York City Building Code requirements. The independent safety consultant will review construction methods and procedures to see if there are any additional safety procedures that can be implemented.