Officials said the inspector had “misdiagnosed” as a “decorative” element a column that was holding up the seven-story building.
An engineer who oversaw inspections of a Bronx apartment building that partially collapsed on Monday “misdiagnosed” a column that was holding up the building, calling it a “decorative” element in plans he filed in June, city officials said Friday.
Mayor Eric Adams and the city’s buildings commissioner, James Oddo, said the city had suspended the engineer’s authority to inspect building facades and would seek to permanently revoke that authority.
Nobody was killed or seriously injured in the collapse. But it left more than 170 residents of the building, at 1915 Billingsley Terrace, with no place to live. In addition to the Buildings Department, officials said, the Bronx district attorney’s office and the city’s Department of Investigation are investigating what caused the collapse.
Given what I have seen dealing with PEs I am surprised this doesn’t happen all the time. Maybe two in my life I have dealt with that can do more than have a meeting about nothing or put something in a spreadsheet that was put together by an intern 8 years ago.
Shout-out to the outstanding minds at Jacobs, Parsons, and Koch. Defrauding the taxpayer and looking well dressed.