Politics & Government
Differing Fire Codes For State-Owned Buildings Could Put FDNY in Danger
Lack of overlap between state and city regulations could be a danger for structures like the Shirley Chisholm Office Building on Hanson Place in Fort Greene, report finds.
A new report says that New York firefighters may be at risk at hundreds of state-owned buildings throughout the city that don’t follow New York Fire Department codes.
Following the August 2007 Deutsche Bank fire, which took the lives of two firefighters, State Sen. Daniel Squadron, D-Brooklyn, and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, created a joint New York City-New York State Task Force on Building and Fire Safety.
The task force’s new report (PDF) shows the danger posed by discrepancies in fire codes that allow state-owned buildings in New York City to remain exempt from critical standards.
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"Simply put, these major gaps in fire code put our first responders and the public at greater risk. The task force's recommendations will go a long way toward closing these holes and improving safety – but they must be implemented now," said Squadron in a statement.
The loophole include a number of buildings at schools like Brooklyn College, City College, Hunter College, as well as the the Jacob Javits Convention Center, Downstate Medical Center and many state office buildings like the at 55 Hanson Place.
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There are also many state-owned buildings that are leased out to commercial tenants like restaurants and salons that are at risk.
Squadron is urging the creation of consistent standards for building equipment (like standpipes and hosethread connections), as well as how explosives and hazardous materials are reported. They currently fall under different rules between city and state.
The report recommends more thorough fire inspections for state buildings.
