Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
FDNY Did Not Inspect Deutsche Bank As It Should Have
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 23, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 23, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The FDNY did not inspect the Deutsche Bank building every 15 days, "as required by city rules for buildings being demolished" (NY Times). This revelation, coupled with the fact that the FDNY did not have a plan to go into the burning building, prompts the Post to demand that Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta leave his post.
The city's official update about the investigation into the Saturday fire, which required 275 firefighters and claimed the lives of two, explains, "Commissioner Scoppetta has directed that this investigation also examine why the Department did not have a pre-fire plan for the building; a fire plan is currently being developed for 130 Liberty Street by the FDNY Operations Unit." Better late than never? And though the update includes dates of FDNY inspections of the building, the last time the standpipe system, which delivers water during fires, was checked was 1996.
Bovis Lend Lease, the contractor hired by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to dismantle the building (contaminated from the World Trade Center collapse), fired its subcontractor, John Galt Corporation, noting the many safety violations: "The numerous citations issued with respect to employee safety and the failure to properly maintain all required site safety precautions are only some areas of concern, all of which combine to create a breach and an event of default of the trade contract." Furthermore, John Galt Corp. apparently didn't have prior demolition experience.
A former asbestos-removal supervisor at the site spoke to the FDNY - and Daily News - about the problems at the site:
He said the 29th floor was casually known as "Teddy's Tavern" because of the vodka and other booze regularly consumed in that floor's decontamination unit, where men cleaned up and ate meals. The 29th floor has since been demolished.
The whistleblower also said work crews smoked heavily and ran live power lines along floors where asbestos removal was being done - a dangerous lapse.
He said the demolition subcontractor, John Galt Corp., hired one electrician to monitor 10 floors, instead of the required two per floor. He charged that some workers set up transformers on work floors and failed to safeguard the red-hot electrical generators.
The widow of one firefighter, Joseph Graffagnino, told the News, "I hope my husband's death wasn't in vain. I hope he died for a reason and not for nothing, because if it was for nothing then my life was destroyed for nothing."
Graffagnino's funeral is today; the funeral of fellow fallen Engine 24, Ladder 5 firefighter Robert Beddia is tomorrow. The Post details how firefighters improvised when the standpipe did not work by creating a 200-foot hose from many different hoses to reach a hydrant on the ground.
Photograph of firefighters putting bunting outside Engine 4, Ladder 5 in Soho on Sunday by AP/Louis Lanzano
Tagged
bovis lend lease
daily news
death
deutsche bank
fdny
fire
Fire Commissioner
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta
John Galt
john galt corp
John Galt Corporation
joseph graffagnino
Liberty Street
Louis Lanzano
lower manhattan
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
manhattan
news
News: NYC
ny times
robert beddia
safety
soho
The FDNY
the post
Trade Center
world trade center
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .