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The Latest News, Blogs, etc in Reverse Chronological Order
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This is ridiculous. New York's bravest deserve far better than this. The Mayor and Fire Chief promised to "get those answers" and follow things "wherever it leads us." Instead there seems to be an active and overt effort to scuttle this investigation
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Firegeezer has obtained a copy of that memo, along with the Department’s belated fire plan which was issued 32 months later….after the fire.
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The union representing the disciplined officers joined Cassidy at a news conference, and criticized Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta for having no pre-fire attack plan.
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Asked if he thought Cassano was lying, Cassidy replied, “We believe he’s lying, yes. [The FDNY’s] answer is, ‘We refuse to give you any answers, but we’re going to deny anything that anybody else says.’ The truth will come out, but it will take time for i
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"You can rest assured that Nick Scoppetta will be our fire commissioner from now for the next 812-odd days," Bloomberg vowed.
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Meanwhile, Eyewitness News has obtained a memo from December 2004, in which a division commander was urged by the captain of the fire house next to the bank building to develop a standard operating procedure for dealing with a fire or hazardous material s
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Even within the Fire Department there have been bitter recriminations between the fire commanders, who the Bloomberg administration has said failed to inspect the bank building properly, as required, and the department’s top brass, who the fire unions hav
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"We find it incredible that when a pipe from the Deutsche Bank Building fell through the roof of the neighboring firehouse, necessitating a meeting with the FDNY's Manhattan Borough Commander, that even this did not prompt him to require an immediate buil
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Meanwhile, Eyewitness News has obtained a memo from December 2004, in which a division commander was urged by the captain of the fire house next to the bank building to develop a standard operating procedure for dealing with a fire or hazardous material s
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The heads of the Uniformed Firefighters and Fire Officers Associations say top brass at the department told fire chiefs at a meeting last month to stop sending any E-mails about the fire at the Ground Zero skyscraper.
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There have been too many "coincidences" to rule out foul play at the top of the FDNY. Hopefully the independent investigation will get past the roadblocks set up by the higher-ups at the Fire Department.
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According to union sources, they will claim Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and his staff have given specific orders about what to look into - and what to avoid.
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The presidents of New York City's two Fire unions are expected to hold a joint press conference this afternoon to address what they perceive to be an effort by Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and his staff to hinder the investigation into the fatal b
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But, again, the details aren't likely to deflect ultimate responsibility from the department's leadership. There should have been a plan to fight any fire at the bank building - and there wasn't. Ultimately, the failure for that rests with one man: Commis
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But even after getting Engel's memo - and several others in 2005 from officers in requesting guidelines for the toxic trap - the FDNY didn't issue a standard operating procedure for the building until Aug. 23, 2007 -- That was just a week after the fire .
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But even after getting Engel's memo - and several others in 2005 from officers in requesting guidelines for the toxic trap - the FDNY didn't issue a standard operating procedure for the building until Aug. 23. That was just a week after the fire, and six
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Accordingly, the Fire Department has inspected the building several times, including testing fire standpipes on the north and south sides of the buildings. Area firehouses also have building floor plans on hand and are familiar with access points in what
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istrict Attorney Robert Morgenthau, is planning to issue a report criticizing any official who did anything wrong in the fatal Deutsche fire, accoring to a source briefed on the investigation.
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Firefighters have said that the building was enormously difficult to inspect, requiring inspectors to don protective environmental suits and spend several hours going floor-by-floor through the former 40-story building.
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As part of a shakeup at the FDNY that resulted in the reassignment of three officers responsible for the inspections, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta ordered the FDNY to find every construction site in the city and look for fire safety hazards.
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The former president and chairman of the development corporation, Kevin Rampe, said that several years ago New York City directed that it route all information about the building, including communications for the Fire Department, through the mayor’s offic
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"It was an asinine plan that had no credibility whatsoever," said Jack McDonnell of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. "The contractor's plan was ludicrous," UFA President Steve Cassidy said
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Fire department spokesman Francis X. Gribbon told the Times, “The Fire Department was not involved in creating this plan, specifically — and most importantly — with regard to the sealed staircases. We were not notified about it. We were not consulted abou
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Six weeks after the Deutsche Bank fire - and bureaucratic bungling - led to the seemingly needless deaths of two city firefighters, the blame game is at full throttle
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The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state agency that owns the contaminated tower at Ground Zero, first hired Safeway Environmental Corp. to raze the Deutsche tower, then replaced it with the John Galt Corp. Investigators were long concerned that
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State officials reportedly knew that the contractor they hired to tear down the former Deutsche Bank building, where two firefighters died in a fire last month, was connected to a company that caused other fires.
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Bennett uncovered Maikish's urgently worded letter of May 25 - warning that LMCCC was being denied the necessary resources to "safely or efficiently" handle the demolition job.
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Investigators have identified and interviewed several workers who removed a crucial section of standpipe from the Deutsche Bank building’s basement, people briefed on their statements have said in recent days. In those interviews, the men said they remove
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Prosecutors are probing allegations that a mob-linked demolition firm slipped no-show jobs into the ill-fated Deutsche Bank demolition project, the Daily News has learned.
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Current and former downtown-development officials launched a bitter battle of words yesterday over whether warnings about safety concerns at the former Deutsche Bank building were ignored before two firefighters were killed there.
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We assumed this role on an interim basis in order to be good soldiers," Mr. Maikish wrote to the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state agency that owns the building, Avi Schick. "However, we also made it very clear that we could not
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Top aides to both Gov. Spitzer and former Gov. George Pataki were warned by a senior downtown redevelopment official that his agency could not "safely or efficiently" manage the demolition of the former Deutsche Bank building long before an inferno in the
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The memos pressed for more staff and money to ensure a condemned ground zero skyscraper was being dismantled safely, raising concerns that would soon become all the more urgent. Two firefighters were killed in a blaze at the tower months late
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The person, confirming an account in Thursday's editions of The New York Times, spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the probe
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Apparently Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center (the government agency overseeing the dismantling) head Charlie Maikish sent a memo to LMDC chairman Avi Schick on May 25, 2007, noting that the LMCC was not prepared to manage the job:
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A year before the disastrous Deutsche Bank fire, a site safety inspector discovered a standpipe crucial to battling blazes in the tower had been cut and was useless, the Daily News has learned. he inspector ordered the standpipe be fixed in April last yea
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Provide an affidavit from a licensed master plumber that standpipe is in service and able to function as required on all floors as per FDNY and DOB rules
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It's increasingly clear that the Aug. 18 blaze that killed Firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino would have been much easier to control - and probably wouldn't have started in the first place - if not for the overly painstaking procedures dema
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- The FDNY has taken much of the heat for the Deutsche Bank building blaze that killed two Bravest -- even though its top brass were virtually excluded from crucial plans to ensure safety during the tower's demolition, sources said yesterday
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Contaminated steel beams from the Deutsche Bank building - cleaned, melted and recast - could end up as part of your next can of soup
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"The firefighters put on two hazmat suits, and then they close the openings around the gloves and the boots with duct tape," said one veteran FDNY officer. "They wear masks and self-contained breathing apparatus as well."
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The building's owner, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., said yesterday it had agreed to the city's safety protocols to improve the working conditions and fire safety in the building.
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The new plan was ironed out by Mayor Bloomberg and Avi Schick, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state agency that owns the building.
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A deputy chief at the scene, Michael Halderman, told ABC that while the Deutsche Bank building fire was at the forefront of people's minds, not sending people into a burning building under demolition when lives were at risk was a standard operating proced
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The building's owner, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said today it had agreed to the city's safety protocols to improve the working conditions and fire safety in the building. They also agreed that a site safety manager must be on site every
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A top New York City fire official called on the federal government yesterday to learn the lessons from 9/11, and make "a concerted, long-term effort" to protect first responders.
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"It shows you unquestionably that there has been an impact on the health of those who responded on 9/11," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said yesterday.
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These statistics are heart-breaking and truly underscore the sacrifice and bravery that the FDNY exhibited in the days and months following the attacks," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg
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Read the study itself on FDNY website
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There has been growing concern over the health effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the Financial District of lower Manhattan. Within moments of the collapse of the twin towers and Building 7 of the World Trade Center, pulverized building material
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The standpipe that failed to provide water during the fatal Deutsche Bank fire last month was not simply breached or cut — it was taken apart, and a full 42-foot stretch of it was removed from the building’s basement, several people with knowledge of the
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A top New York City fire official called on the federal government yesterday to learn the lessons from 9/11, and make "a concerted, long-term effort" to protect first responders.
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Paying Naftalis up to $660 an hour means that they know the heat is coming. The question is, why? Inquiring minds want to know.
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it has seemed curious from the outset that the administration moved so hastily against them while taking no action against anyone from the Buildings Department, which bore a greater responsibility for the ongoing demolition of the Deutsche Bank structure.
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Mr. Schick also said the LMDC is "thinking" it will take a different approach to deconstructing the building when it resumes work, discontinuing the previous practice of deconstructing and decontaminating the building simultaneously. Separating the tasks
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Nevertheless, the state will likely "decouple" the two tasks because, Schick said, "That's the traditional way to do it."
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It took the tragic deaths of two firefighters, but the cursed Deutsche Bank building finally has a fire-safety plan, according to documents obtained by The Post.
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"It is my belief the upper echelon of this department is more concerned with circling their own wagons and protecting their own interests," Alles said. "If they cared we would have the new procedure to follow today."
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Just which city agency had responsibility for inspecting the building is still in dispute.
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The city is offering free legal help to any of its workers who might face criminal charges in the deadly Deutsche Bank blaze, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.
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it is concerned that prosecutors are focusing on city agencies as possible defendants.
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The Deutsche Bank demolition job is a nightmare of safety violations and near disasters, with subcontractor John Galt Corp. repeatedly misleading regulators, documents charge.
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"It's very unusual for the city to retain outside counsel at all and particularly outside criminal counsel so they must have some concerns that this could reach high up," Rabinowitz said.
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Once it was decided that the building had been irretrievably poisoned by dust from the collapse across the street of the World Trade Center towers in 2001, it entered a netherworld of fear defined by some familiar words: asbestos, dioxin, PCBs.
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There is no way a Fire Captain can take his men into a toxic Haz-Mat site without the support and approval of a whole host of people. It just isn't done.
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How can officials discipline fire commanders for not detecting the hazards before the fire and not just as quickly seek sanctions against to the company that allowed those hazards to materialize in the first place?
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According to the memo, Building's principal Engineer, Timothy Lynch, told the FDNY that "the demolition of 140 Liberty Street (sic) would be under the jurisdiction of Building's B.E.S.T. (Building Enforcement Safety Team)."
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The captain of the engine (company) probably had no ability to inspect that building it was so contaminated," Von Essen said.
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Their suspicions grew when a few of them began to suffer respiratory ailments. Those worries, and the caution they inspired, now appear to have been a factor in the latest ground zero tragedy: a chaotic blaze that left the FDNY grieving two more dead.
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But Mr. Scoppetta stressed in his interview yesterday that Captain Bosco and the two other officers were not disciplined, in his view. Rather, he said, they have been put on the sidelines while the various investigations run their course.
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What still remains unclear is why the original plan didn't address emergency responders in the first place. Questions remain about what fire officials knew about the condemned building before the fire, why no one knew the staircases inside had been sealed
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Instead, the billionaire mayor gave orders for lesser heads to roll. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta has reassigned three uniformed fire officers for allegedly failing to carry out building inspections. The officers and their union have protested ...
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"Two firefighters, brave men, are dead, two firefighters may never work again, three other firefighters have been wrongly disciplined, and the stuffed shirts, politics and greed are getting away with a pass," Sally Regenhard was saying.
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"Can't conceive of how anybody thinks we should leave anybody in a position where there's a question as to whether or not they were taking the steps to keep the city safe," Bloomberg said. "That's what their job is."
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"No haz-mat suits for you/no guidance from FDNY too/How you do it is up to you/risk your lungs and your health," the rhyme rages. "Meet my quota of 2 a month, Bloomberg and Scoppetta said/We'll decontaminate you after you're dead."
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If there's an ongoing investigation, why in the hell were three veteran firefighters axed on the spot? "There was no due process here," McDonnell said. No, they were lynched.
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I'm guessing that Scoppetta has modified Harry Truman's slogan, "The buck stops here," to read: "The buck stops anyplace but here;" "The buck stops before it gets here" or "The buck stops with my deputy commissioners, but not with me
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The highest levels of the FDNY knew about but ignored a smoking-gun memo that outlined a plan to battle blazes at the toxic Deutsche Bank site where two firefighters died this month, officials said yesterday.
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The mayor also defended a decision to reassign three fire officers charged with inspecting the building. "Nobody's scapegoating anybody," the mayor said. "I don't think that if they did what it seemed they did, they should be able to continue to ...
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"I don't accept the suggestion I should even consider resigning," Scoppetta said, during a week in which critics demanded he step down or take more responsibility for inspection failures, and also accused him of scapegoating three officers he stripped of
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Months before the Aug. 18 fire that killed two firefighters, numerous senior fire chiefs spent weeks at the demolition site and apparently never reported those conditions. The battalion chiefs were at the building to search for remains of Sept. 11 victims
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THE tragedy of the fire at the Deutsche Bank building in lower Manhattan will not be alleviated by an arbitrary transfer and public humiliation of three good fire officers who were not even at the scene. If Deputy Chief Richard Fuerch, Battalion Chief Joh
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A demoted fire captain, Peter Bosco, says there was an unwritten rule not to inspect the building so firefighters wouldn't be exposed to any airborne contaminants.
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REPORTER: The mayor is also defending the decision to demote three fire officials, saying they were responsible for inspecting the Deutsche Bank site every 15 days. A demoted fire captain, Peter Bosco, says there was an unwritten rule not to inspect the b
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Scoppetta said the FDNY is reviewing 429 buildings under demolition or construction to ensure they have been inspected regularly. He also said he is calling for a change in protocol to make certain crucial reports reach FDNY headquarters
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Rather than blaming firefighters for this tragedy, the city should get closer to the truth. Fire Commissioner Nick Scoppetta said his inquiry into the cause of the fire tragedy would be vigorously pursued, no matter where it leads. Be careful, Nick, ...
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But unless I hear something persuasive, my money’s on Captain Peter Bosco.
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A Fire Department captain who was reassigned after officials said he failed to ensure regular inspections at the former Deutsche Bank building, shot back yesterday, saying he is being made a scapegoat for what was a departmentwide policy to stay clear of
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"They're blaming the wrong people," said John Bosco, a lawyer at the firm representing the reassigned firefighter. "These people give their heart and souls to the job. This is what the job does for them."
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The city's fire department had a long-standing policy not to enter a ground zero skyscraper where two firefighters died because of concerns about toxic debris inside, a reassigned fire official's lawyer said Wednesday.
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Second, the city’s building inspectors and Fire Department must create a workable plan to make the demolition possible at this particularly toxic site.
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Bloomberg said it was "not excusable'' that the department failed to properly inspect the building, especially after repeated urging from at least one fire official who spotted numerous potential hazards in the skyscraper and sent memos about his concern.
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An asbestos worker at the former Deutsche Bank building told the Daily News she quit her job at the unsafe, underprotected site after her boss berated her for wearing an asbestos mask to protect herself.
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The mayor disciplines commanding fire officers in the wake of the blaze at the Deutsche Bank building. We look at who is to blame, and who is not being punished with WNYC reporter Bob Hennelly.
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Now it is time for Scoppetta to assume personal responsibility for that failing. He needs to resign. And if he fails to resign, Bloomberg needs to show him the door.
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Bloomberg insisted he is "not interested in finger-pointing," adding that his sole desire is to "fix what's broken" and prevent a similar event from occurring again.
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Pending the outcome of the investigation, the following fire officers are relieved of their commands: Deputy Chief Richard Fuerch, Commander, Division 1, Battalion Chief John McDonald, Commander, Battalion 1, Captain Peter Bosco, Engine Company 10
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And while its annual report says compliance is a core value at the Deutsche Bank site alone, it was cited no less than seven times since March for Department of Building violations, including an August citation for failure to move combustible material fro
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he City Department of Investigation strongly cautioned Lower Manhattan development officials against using contractors with ties to a troubled demolition company to tear down the contaminated Deutsche Bank building, a person with knowledge of the events s
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The firefighters - they didn't stand a chance. They walked into a deathtrap, a booby trap a year or more in the making," said the 52-year-old asbestos-removal supervisor, who worked at the Ground Zero job site for a year.
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Both men have gone into virtual hiding since Saturday's tragic Deutsche Bank blaze that killed hero Firefighters Robert Beddia and Joe Graffagnino.
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Yet two of New York's Bravest died preserving what some call "a vertical Love Canal" without so much as the benefit of a pre-fire plan, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta admitted yesterday.
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Charles R. Blaich, a retired deputy chief who was in charge of safety for the Fire Department at the ground zero site, said the McKinsey report changed how the department managed disasters. “After 9/11 there were directions that came out from the chief of
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Fire Marshals believe the fire started on the 17th floor on the south (Albany Street) side of the building, several feet from the hoist-way (exterior elevator) door. The fire origin area was used as an exit location for workers after they had gone through
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the FDNY admits it did not have a pre-fire plan for the building which was in the process of being demolished.
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In a candid hour-long discussion with the C.B. 1 World Trade Center Committee, the staff of the L.M.C.C.C. explained details about the Deutsche Bank project and the agency’s overall plans for the future. The talk revealed, among other things, that cost-cu
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The building had been contaminated by the fallout of Sept. 11 with toxic substances and tiny bits of human remains; insurance fights delayed its fate for years. Asbestos had been removed from the building, and sealed plywood hatches in stairwells divided
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As word spread around Lower Manhattan last week that a 15-foot section of steel piping had fallen from the top of the former Deutsche Bank building and crashed through the roof of the 10/10 firehouse next door, the same refrain could be heard over and ove
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But a state survey found more contaminants than expected, including dangerous levels of asbestos, dioxin and lead.
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His office learned the Department of Buildings had granted a demolition permit. But, that was rescinded when the Department of Environmentral Protection said it wanted a closer look for asbestos and potential contimination from 9/11.
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Listen to Avi Shick
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fter years of delays and spiraling deconstruction costs, the shrouded 41-story tower is beginning to shrink. Contaminated and irreparably damaged by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11, the Deutsche Bank building has long been an eyesore
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For the first time, a federal watchdog agency has slapped Ground Zero contractors for not protecting workers from toxic dust. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration quietly has hit two companies with violations for leaving workers exposed while t
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Critics said they worried that workers inside the building would not be sufficiently protected. "Workers are essentially, and unfortunately, the canaries for the community," said David M. Newman of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health
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OSHA Administrator John Henshaw, in the partnership’s press statement, called "potentially the most dangerous workplace in the United States."
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Built in the early 1970's, the 1.4-million-square-foot tower was known as the Bankers Trust Building until Deutsche Bank merged with Bankers Trust a few years ago. Today, it is considered uninhabitable.
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The bank filed suit this month, insisting that the building was too contaminated to be reoccupied and asking the court to force Allianz and AXA to declare the building a total loss and pay their contracted share of $1.7 billion in insured value. There are
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he bank says in court papers that the building is too badly contaminated with toxic materials like asbestos and mercury to ever be reoccupied
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"I asked him point-blank, was this something that Deutsche Bank was slowing us down, or did he want that test done first? And he said quite explicitly he does not want to jeopardize the lives of our firefighters," the mayor said. "He would prefer to wait
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The World Trade Center site is potentially the most dangerous workplace in the United States,” he said.“Our challenge is to ensure the September 11 tragedy claims no more victims in terms of fatalities or serious injuries or illnesses.That challenge ...
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According to union sources, they will claim Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and his staff have given specific orders about what to look into - and what to avoid.
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Uniform Firefighters Association
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More FDNY Ten House
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New York State Department of Labor
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New York Environmental Law & Justice
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Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY)
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New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health
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United States EPA
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NYC Department of Buildings
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Unified Fire Officers Association
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Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
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Deutsche Bank Building
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Mayor Bloomberg
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The Law Firm of Michael J. Deodati
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Project Rebirth: Chronicling the Rebirth of Ground Zerio in New York City
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Wikipedia
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Dedicated to the defense of FDNY Captain Peter Bosco
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Please feel free to contribute any tips or suggestions about how to defend Captain Peter Bosco.
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Any words of encouragement that you may want to share with Pete would be appreciated too.
Emails can also be sent to Pete via the law firm of Bosco, Bisignano & Mascolo, Esq. 292 Nelson Avenue, Staten Island, New York 10308 718-273-4046 to BBMBOSCO@gmail.com. BBM's website can be reached by clicking the BBM icon.
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