Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced the result of a two-week sweep with the City Department of Buildings (“DOB”) that found and confiscated more than 70 fraudulent scaffold certification and U.S. Occupational and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) safety cards and resulted in the arrest of 30 construction workers at sites in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The cards are required to work on scaffolding and for workers at major buildings in the City. The individuals arrested include a construction company owner at a Manhattan site who was charged with possessing 32 fraudulent scaffold certification cards that he manufactured by altering legitimate cards. The joint operation also resulted in partial and full stop work orders issued at 14 of the sites for a variety of violations, including unapproved installation of supported scaffolding.
DOI initiated this operation after DOB reported in September that its inspectors had found fraudulent scaffold certification cards at numerous work sites in Manhattan. DOI coordinated a response with DOI investigators and DOB inspectors visiting 16 work sites in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens beginning on Friday, October 12, and resulting in arrests at ten of the locations. Three individuals were charged with Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a class D felony, and the remaining individuals were charged with the class A misdemeanor Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Third Degree. The forged cards displayed numbers that were never issued and training courses that did not exist, used thin paper instead of plastic, and included typos, among other irregularities.
Defendants indicated they purchased individual bogus cards for between approximately $25 and $450 at locations throughout the City. No individual may use a supported scaffold without a scaffold user certificate. Valid scaffold certification cards are required under Local Law 52 and must be obtained from OSHA, OSHA-trained or certified providers, or a provider of a training course reviewed by DOB, which has posted on its website a list of courses in keeping with the local law: www.nyc.gov/buildings.
Separately, workers performing construction work at major New York City buildings must complete an approved course in construction safety approved by OSHA. Arrests occurred at the following sites. Locations where DOB inspectors found violations are noted:
- 236 E. 47th St., Manhattan (1 arrest)
- 530 Park Ave., Manhattan (1 arrest)
- 502 Park Ave., Manhattan – partial stop work order issued for work contrary to approved plans regarding the installation of supported scaffolding. (2 arrests)
- 923 Fifth Ave., Manhattan – partial stop work order issued for not having correct training certificate cards for workers on supported scaffolding. (1 arrest)
- 444 E. 75th St., Manhattan – partial stop work order issued for work contrary to approved construction documents. Violation also noted the northeast suspended scaffold was not on the approved plan. In addition, a violation was issued for a worker on site without a valid OSHA card. (1 arrest)
- 425 E. 86th St., Manhattan – partial stop work order issued for work contrary to approved construction documents, including the installation of the supported scaffold on the main roof. (1 arrest)
- 304 E. 42nd St., Manhattan – full stop work order issued for the use of supported scaffold without scaffold user certifications. (6 arrests)
- 401 E. 34th St., Manhattan – full stop work order issued for work contrary to approved construction documents. (10 arrests)
- 201 E. 21st St., Manhattan – full stop work order issued for work contrary to plan. (5 arrests)
- 325 Clinton Ave., Brooklyn – partial stop work order issued for a lapse of workers’ compensation insurance and violations for inadequate safety measures in place. (2 arrests)
The following were sites visited during the sweep in which there were no arrests, but building violations were issued:
- 55 Park Ave., Manhattan – partial stop work order issued for no rigging foreman on the site while rigging was in use and no certificate of fitness cards for workers on suspended scaffolding.
- 201 Clinton Ave., Brooklyn – partial stop work order issued for a lapse of workers’ compensation insurance.
- 205 Clinton Ave., Brooklyn – partial stop work order issued for a lapse of workers’ compensation insurance.
- 209 Clinton Ave., Brooklyn – partial stop work order issued for a lapse of workers’ compensation insurance.
- 903 Summit Ave., Bronx – partial stop work order issued for failure to have rigger or designated foreman on site during operation, no record of daily inspection of suspended scaffolding performed by authorized individual on site, among other issues.
- 69-40 108 St., Queens – partial stop work order issued for work contrary to approved construction documents and inadequate protection of sidewalk and walkways in front of building.
Of the 30 individuals charged, 28 were referred for prosecution to the office of the New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., and two were referred to the office of Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes.
Criminal complaints are accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
CLICK HERE (pdf) for the official announcement.