Printer Friendly Format

View Press Conference
56k

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2002
PR-197-02
www.nyc.gov

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND COMMISSIONER
PATRICIA J. LANCANSTER ANNOUNCE PLAN TO REFORM BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT


Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced that the Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Patricia J. Lancaster, AIA has released a report outlining changes and reforms to the Buildings Department. The report includes dozens of initiative from streamlining Emergency Response procedures to introducing E-Government into the permitting and certification process. Commissioner Lancaster's report details the current state of the Department of Buildings, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. The Report provides details on initiatives that have been completed or are in progress and sets forth the Commissioner's long-term commitment to structurally and fundamentally improve the filing-to-Certificate of Occupancy process -- a cornerstone of the agency's operations.

"I hired Commissioner Patricia Lancaster to fix the problems that have long plagued the Department of Buildings and made it difficult to build in this City," said Mayor Bloomberg. "I am pleased to announce that the Commissioner has already taken steps to systematically reform the Agency and set its future direction. This report addresses the climate of corruption that has flourished and that has been fueled by cumbersome and opaque operating procedures."

"With the support of Mayor Bloomberg, I will change the way DOB operates and fulfill our mandate to improve service, increase efficiency and address corruption," said Commissioner Lancaster. "Having been successful at restructuring other organizations, I am confident that I can use those same skills to simplify and de-mystify DOB's operations."

DOB has set forth a commitment to improve the way it does business including application filings, plan review, permitting/inspection and the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. One year from now, the Agency will produce a template for re-inventing the set of transactions reflected in this multi-faceted procedure, which shortens the overall process, provides time frames for each component, and offers a level of transparency designed to put information into the public domain and thus remove the obscurity that allows corruption to flourish. The Report includes a review of the April 2001 Task Force on Re-engineering the Department and builds upon many of its recommendations.

Since the beginning of Commissioner's Lancaster's tenure at the Agency, DOB has completed or is in the process of completing the following short term initiatives:

Initiatives Completed:
Initiatives in Progress:

"The Department faces enormous challenges. We have no illusions about the scope of work required to deliver on the mandate that we have been given by Mayor Bloomberg," Commissioner Lancaster concluded. "Moving forward means moving on multiple fronts simultaneously."

Contact: Ed Skyler / Jordan Barowitz
(212) 788-2958
  Ilyse Fink (DOB)
(212) 566-3508