City Wants to Drop Architect Requirement for Buildings Commish
In the search for a new commissioner for the Department of Buildings, the Bloomberg administration wants to drop a requirement that the position go to a certified architect or engineer, a move that is being resisted by the city’s architectural advocacy organization.
“We feel very, very strongly that it should be withdrawn, that it’s ill considered—that I would even go so far to say hypocritical,” said Fredric Bell, director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects. “It has to be a licensed design professional—not someone who just has good management skills … they really have to know buildings as their business.”
The City Council will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the new legislation, which was brought forward by the mayor’s office.
We’re awaiting a response from the city, but presumably the Bloomberg administration wants to widen the pool of potential candidates.
The position has been vacant since commissioner Patricia Lancaster was forced out last month following highly publicized embarrassments for the department connected to a fatal Upper East Side crane collapse.
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To eliminate the requirement for the commissioner of the department of buildings to be either a licensed architect or a professional engineer would be short-sighted at best and dangerous at worst.
New York City needs stronger enforcement of building codes and stricter standards or else we'll see more accidents, building collapses and construction deaths.
The commissioner needs to be a licensed professional.
This Commissioner of DOB was not asked to leave because she was a licensed professional but because she was honest, forthright and even caring. She openly admitted mistakes and short comings which is a dangerous precedent to set for polititions who seem to think election makes them know-it-alls. We don't need less integrity in City government, but more.