by Zach Mortice
Associate Editor

Summary: Patricia Lancaster, the widely praised head of New York City’s Department of Buildings, resigned on April 22. This change comes after a spike in construction site deaths and allleged errors in departmental oversight. Lancaster’s supporters say she’s been the head of an underfunded and understaffed agency that nevertheless managed to reform the city’s building codes and improve the department. Mayor Bloomberg’s administration is beginning discussions with the City Council about removing the requirement that the buildings commissioner be an architect or an engineer.

Although supported by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others during her six-year tenure, New York City Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster, FAIA, resigned on April 22, after a string of 13 construction deaths this year alone and Mayor Bloomberg’s public criticism of her department.

Already the mayor’s office is considering drastically revising the range of experience required at the buildings commissioner post. On April 23, the New York Times reported that the Bloomberg administration is approaching members of the City Council about stripping away the requirement that the buildings commissioner be an architect or an engineer. On April 30, New York City Council Member Sincha Felder introduced legislation to remove this qualification. In response, the AIA New York Chapter quickly began collecting signatures on a petition urging the mayor and City Council not to remove the requirement. AIA NYC is meeting May 2 with the deputy mayor of operations to urge the Bloomberg Administration to require a licensed professional to head this important city department.

The hint of this change in job definition has drawn staunch opposition from the AIA. The Institute believes that the New York City buildings commissioner must be prepared and trained to deal with issues of historic preservation, safety and accessibility, and energy and sustainability—all of which are fundamental parts of architects’ skill set. “More and more, buildings are being constructed in a manner that really requires technical sophistication and understanding,” says Paul Mendelsohn, vice president of AIA Government and Community Relations.

The situation parallels Congress’ responsibility to nominate a new Architect of the Capitol. Unhappy with cost overruns and delays at the Capitol Visitor’s Center, many congressional leaders began calling for a non-architect, managerial specialist to inherit the post last held by Alan Hantman, FAIA, who left the job in February of 2007. Hantman’s deputy, Stephen Ayers, AIA, has been serving as the Architect of the Capitol since then, and Congress has not yet finalized their nominee list. One of Government Advocacy’s top priories has been ensuring that the next Architect of the Capitol is an architect.

Government Advocacy staff also say that changing the requirements of New York City’s buildings commissioner away from a licensed architect or engineer and towards an operations or managerial specialist could trigger a wave of similar revisions across the country.

AIA New York Executive Director Rick Bell, FAIA, says it is the AIA’s duty to make sure that doesn’t happen. “We’re going to fight this,” Bell says, “there is a good chance they’ll pass it, but it’s so overarchingly important that we will keep fighting until we get the message across.”

Underfunded and understaffed
Lancaster has been widely praised, by the mayor (who appointed her in 2002), as well as by some of her harshest critics, for updating New York’s building codes, fighting endemic corruption, strengthening inspections and oversight, as well as improving the public’s access to information. However, the day before Lancaster resigned, Mayor Bloomberg uncharacteristically criticized her department in public. “I don’t think anybody should be fully satisfied with the Department of Buildings,” he told the Associated Press. “Whether they’ve done everything they can or not is something I’m looking at.”

Bell says underfunding and understaffing have caused the problems for which Lancaster has been unfairly blamed. “It’s an underfunded agency in a boom that has not been able to have the funding to keep up with the work at hand,” he says.

In a way, the mayor’s office may agree with Bell’s assertion that more money could have prevented the accidents. The day after she resigned, Mayor Bloomberg committed $4 million to a plan to assess the safety of high-risk construction sites.

“It isn't only about the resources available to the department, the number of inspectors, the number of plan examiners,” says Bell. “It is essential in New York City to guarantee the public safety and also to allow construction to proceed. Patricia Lancaster's removal from the job she did so well shows that the balance is shifting to a point where construction in New York might grind to a halt.”

Sweeping changes accomplished
"It's not possible to adequately express the regret I feel about any person who lost their life during my time as commissioner. These weren't 'casualties' for me—they were body blows,” Lancaster wrote to AIArchitect. “The department looks after the safe operation of 975,000 New York buildings and issued 118,000 construction permits last year. Our goal must be 100 percent healthful and safe conditions every day. We who have the privilege of serving in government assume responsibility for working to meet these standards, whatever the challenges.

“I will continue to pursue opportunities to bring quality oversight and the highest possible standards to this city and beyond."

On the council
Jessica Lappin is the New York City Council member representing the district where a crane accident took place, and she’s been a harsh critic of Lancaster and the Department of Buildings. “The public had lost faith in the agency, and it required new leadership to restore that faith,” she says.

Tony Avella, a city council member from Queens, has been the only member of the council to call for Lancaster’s resignation. He and Lappin have both praised Lancaster for her efforts to reform the city’s building code. “She, unfortunately, didn’t have the leadership skills or the political will, and maybe that’s part of the mayor’s fault, to make any real changes at the agency,” he says, “She shouldn’t just be the scapegoat, either,” he says. “There’s got to be an overhaul of the agency.”

The mayor’s office declined to comment on any discussion about dropping the architect and engineering requirement or about any of the details surrounding Lancaster’s resignation.

Avella said he would support such a change, while Lappin was ambiguous about whether she would support such a change, saying that it might be possible to find a suitable candidate who’s not an architect or an engineer. But, she says, “at a fundamental level, you have to understand the mechanics of building in New York City.”

“We have the support of the city’s engineering and construction communities,” Bell says. “We will help in any way we can to find another qualified licensed professional to head the Buildings Commission.”