A new proposal from the Department of Buildings seeks to accelerate structural safety evaluations of thousands of parking lots in Upper Manhattan and other boroughs.
The measure will be published next week and includes changes to an already established program.
And this is in response to the deadly collapse in a Lower Manhattan garage earlier this year.
In order to keep employees and customers of New York parking lots safe, the Department of Buildings has accelerated inspection times throughout the city.
The decision was made in recent months, following the deadly April 18 collapse at a Lower Manhattan garage in which an employee lost his life.
“I remember perfectly. It was a very tragic moment for all of us who work as garage parkers,” says José Lantigua, a parking lot employee in Washington Heights.
The new rule, to be published next week, requires owners of thousands of parking lots in Upper Manhattan and all other boroughs to conduct an initial observation by a qualified parking structure inspector by August 1. 2024. This is in addition to the general reviews that must be presented at other later dates.
The Department of Buildings reported that:
“The new regulations will have qualified people view more of the city’s more than 4,000 parking structures on an accelerated schedule, helping us identify potential structural problems before a disaster strikes.”
Additionally, several parking lots in Manhattan, including the borough where the accident occurred, must submit their complete reports to the Department of Buildings by December 31 of this year.
In Washington Heights, we approach a parking lot where employees say they feel safe:
“They have been concerned to maintain order, danger and measure. Do not park the car on the roof like a landslide. And they have done everything in favor of the employees,” says José Lantigua.
“Of course it is important that you come to the engineer to check the structure of the building. Well, the inspectors have already come here, they already gave us the order not to park cars on the roof, for that same reason, to be more protected,” says Humberto Disla, manager of the parking lot.
And customers also agreed with more reviews:
“If there is frequent inspection it would be much safer. Of course. I didn’t know, honestly. Not here we just enter and leave,” says Fabian Realpe, a customer of the parking lot.
With expedited inspections, the city hopes to be able to detect potential structural problems early before accidents occur.
2023-10-21 14:25:00
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