The Department of Buildings signed off on inadequate plans for the Tribeca crane before it collapsed in 2016, killing a passer-by, a city administrative judge found.
Judge Ingrid Addison’s 68-page decision, issued this week, lays the onus for the disaster on the crane’s operator, Kevin Reilly, and approved yanking his license.
Addison also faulted DOB inspectors for approving a crane stowage plan that would have knocked the crane’s arm into a building if strictly followed, and ripped the DOB’s argument that it is not responsible for ensuring plans are safe for New Yorkers as “counter to its profile and mission.”
The department said it disagreed with the judge’s ruling in the “strongest possible terms.”