NYS SENATOR ERIC ADAMS AND CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY NORMAN SIEGEL CONVENED A PRESS CONFERENCE TO CALL ON THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS TO CONDUCT ITS OWN CONCRETE TESTING IN THE WAKE OF ALLEGATIONS AGAINST AND INDICTMENTS OF PRIVATE TESTERS
NYS Senator Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) and Civil Rights Attorney Norman Siegel held a press conference on Sunday, August 2, to call on the NYC Department of Buildings to establish a special unit to assume full responsibility for concrete testing. Investigations of major private testers and subsequent indictments for falsification of test reports about the strength of concrete at many of New York’s largest construction projects suggested that the safety of millions of New Yorkers had been compromised.
Senator Adams’ August 2nd statement: “Recent allegations against and indictments of private concrete-testing companies call into question the practice of contracting out the testing of concrete for NYC construction projects. The safety of our infrastructure, including our most ambitious developments, is far too important to entrust to private companies that seem to have put private profit above public safety.
“NYC has exacting standards for construction safety, but these criteria lose their meaning when private testers subvert them. The city must assume responsibility for the concrete we use to build our schools, subway stations, buildings, and bridges by establishing a special unit within the Department of Buildings to conduct the testing.
“NYC’s major newspaper yesterday editorialized that ‘if reports of corruption continue to emerge, the city could eventually find itself forced to start its own testing operation.’ This is foolish temporizing! The allegations levied against so many private testers should serve as a wake-up call to the City of NY, and its Department of Buildings should immediately begin steps to implement its own rigorous testing.”
Now, exactly one month after the press conference, the City of NY has decided to establish a laboratory to evaluate the strength of concrete on its own projects and create a new concrete unit in the Buildings Department to audit the work done by the dozens of companies licensed to evaluate concrete on private construction projects. Thus, the City of NY is heeding Senator Adams’ call for a comprehensive program for effective oversight of the concrete-testing industry.
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