Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has indicted six alleged mafia members who worked for the city's Buildings Department. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman has more.
REPORTER: The indictment says there are 19 buildings in Manhattan and the Bronx where inspectors fudged permits or lifted stop work orders in return for bribes. Officials say no deaths or injuries resulted and it's unclear if the safety of workers or the public was ever put in jeopardy. The city's commissioner of investigations, Rose Gill Hearn, says contractors paid the bribes mainly to speed up paperwork.
HEARN: Get more promptly or expeditiously a certificate of occupancy or lift a stop work order or get a permit something that might otherwise be difficult to get.
REPORTER: A law enforcement official says three inspectors were associates of the Lucchese crime family when the city hired them over the past four years. But Gill Hearn says none of them had a criminal record of mafia activity at that point. The buildings department is re-inspecting all the buildings to make sure they're safe. For WNYC, I'm Matthew Schuerman.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.