The Daily News checked out the new crane at the 1st Avenue and East 91 Street site where a crane collapsed, killing two men, in May. Neighbors were wary--one said, "The first thing I thought was, 'Oh, here we go again,'" while another said, "I tend to think they won't screw up twice, but I don't want to be the one who is told, 'I told you so.'" The Buildings Department said the crane is......

After two fatal crane collapses and other accidents, the city issued new rules to improve crane safety. However, construction industry officials tell the NY Times union laborers would be out of work (temporarily), work will be slower, and the Department of Buildings didn't even consult them! For instance, the new rules requires contractors to have manuals for assembling and dismantling cranes, but many operators "don't have those manuals and own cranes whose manufacturers are out......

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a number of violations related to the March 15 crane collapse in Turtle Bay, which killed seven people. OSHA blamed the collapse on a $40 nylon sling, which the Daily News called "torn and tattered from years of misuse." OSHA regional director Richard Mendelson said the sling had "cuts and snags that existed before the March 15 disaster. I don't think the slings cost more than......

The city comptroller's office says there are "more than half a billion dollars in lawsuits" stemming from the fatal crane collapses earlier this year. The families of two constructions workers who died have filed notices of claim for the May 30 collapse on East 91st Street; Ramadan Kurtag's family plans to sue for $75 million while Donald Leo's family's claim is for $20 million. The Daily News reports there are also "several smaller claims ranging......

The site of the 43-story tower at the corner of East 51st Street and Second Avenue may remain a partially built tragic reminder of the fatal March 15 crane collapse for a long while, because the developer's lender has started foreclosure action against him. Apparently developer, FDNY veteran James Kennelly, hasn't paid $70.4 million in loans; though he couldn't attempt to get new financing, bankers tells the NY Times it's harder for developers to get......

The crane inspector arrested for falsely claiming he had inspected the crane that eventually collapsed at East 51st Street on March 15 has been tied to additional false reports. Edward Marquette pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included tampering with public records. It's unclear which cranes he is accused of faking reports for, but the Department of Buildings has been trying to crack down on crane and construction safety after the March crane collapse......

Yesterday, Department of Buildings acting commissioner Robert LiMandri testified before the House Education and Labor Committee and announced new ways the city would increase crane safety, including inspecting cranes when they change ownership. LiMandri also asked for more OSHA inspectors--who should also be given the power to issue stop-worker orders--noting he was "deeply troubled" by the recent crane collapse deaths, "It is simply impossible for our inspectors to be at every site at all times."......

Today was going to Janine Belcastro and Donald Leo's wedding day. But Leo, a crane operator, died in last month's crane collapse on the Upper East Side. The Daily News says Belcastro's sister and friend have taken her on a trip this weekend. A friend said, "She's still too upset. It's still too much for her."......

The Department of Buildings confirmed to the Daily News that it found cracks in a crane at a construction site in lower Manhattan. The crane happens to be a Kodiak tower crane owned by New York Crane & Equipment Co.--the same model and firm involved last month's fatal crane collapse at East 91st Street and First Avenue. Cracks were found in the crane's turntable; the crane in the May collapse also suffered from cracking (it......

Photograph from East 51st Street by gattogrosso212 at flickr The East 51st Street condominium site where a crane collapsed into buildings--completely leveling a townhouse and killing seven--had its construction permit revoked. A month after the March 15 collapse, it was revealed plans for the 43-story building should never have been approved by the Department of Buildings (it's possible revised plans could still have been approved), so the developer James Kennelly was asked to resubmit......

As the Department of Buildings, Manhattan DA's office, and OSHA investigate the fatal May 30 crane collapse at East 91st Street and First Avenue, the crane's history continues to be a focus. Immediately after the collapse, it was suggested and later confirmed the crane was the same one that had been damaged at a West 46th Street construction site in 2007. The NY Times looks at the crane's "second life," reporting that the crane's turntable......

Photograph of building cranes by digiart2001 on Flickr Yesterday, the assistant chief inspector for cranes was arrested and charged with accepting bribes "to falsify inspection reports and overlook unqualified operators." Upon leaving court, James Delayo, 60, who is a 26-year veteran of the Department of Buildings, did not respond to when a street sweeper asked him "if he felt responsible" for the fatal crane collapses in recent months. Delayo allegedly gave a copy of......

An insurance company executive, whose client owned the crane had once been repaired before collapsing on East 91st Street last Friday, said the Department of Buildings knew the crane's history. NationalBuilders Insurance Services executive vice president Kevin Cunningham said, "The DOB inspector certified that it was OK to go back to work." While the insurance company says the 24-year-old tower crane's turntable crack was "minor," investigators suspect the re-welded crack might have given way and......

Photograph of the collapsed crane being assembled in April by seth_holladay on Flickr The offices of New York Crane and Equipment, which owns the cranes in last Friday's as well as March's fatal crane collapses, were searched and documents were seized, according the NY Times. Currently, there are investigations from the Manhattan DA's office, the Department of Investigation, and OSHA into the collapse. An insurance company confirmed that the crane's turntable used at 331......

The Building Department allowed "most" crane operations across the city to resume as the investigation into what caused Friday's fatal crane collapse at East 91st Street continues. Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday, "It would appear that there is no connection whatsoever between the two accidents. They're very different things," the second accident being the March 15 crane collapse which left seven people dead. The March 15 incident may have involved a nylon sling that failed, while......

Photograph of onlookers watching the scene yesterday at 331 East 91 Street by Diane Bondareff/AP Friday's fatal crane collapse at East 91st St. and First Avenue was a horrible shock, but the sad truth is that neighborhood residents had been worried about the crane for a while. Much like the residents where a crane on East 51st Street collapsed on March 15, damaging buildings, completely leveling a townhouse and killing seven people, neighbors near......

Photograph of the building damaged by the collapsed crane on East 91st Street by Stephen Chernin/AP The NY Times reports that the Manhattan District Attorney's office has opened up a criminal investigation into Friday's construction crane collapse on East 91st Street that left two dead. Apparently, it's possible that the crane, manufactured by Kodiak, could be the same one, as the Daily News reported yesterday, that "cracked at a project on W.46th St. and......

Yesterday, at a luxury condominium construction site, a crane collapsed at East 91st Street and First Avenue, damaging a building across the street and killing two workers. Though this was the second crane collapse in two months, city officials do not believe the circumstances were similar to th March 15 incident where a condominium construction crane collapsed into buildings, killing seven people. In fact, the DOB believes a weld in the crane is what failed....

Photograph by seth_holladay A crane collapsed at 1st Avenue and 91st Street on the Upper East Side around 8:15 a.m. According to initial reports, there are people trapped inside. There is wreckage on 91st Street, with FDNY and other emergency responder going through the rubble. The crane was located at a new construction site. Crane safety and new construction has come under new scrutiny after the March 15 crane collapse that claimed the lives......

Concerns about school overcrowding dovetailed into condominium construction plans at 331 East 91st Street, where a crane collapse this morning left at least one person dead. The developers of the proposed Azure condo ("The Elegant Choice") got lease rights to the land after agreeing to build the new home of PS 151. According to the Daily News, the Dematteis Organization and Mattone Group paid a $111.9 million for a lease "in exchange for assuming the......

The Bloomberg administration has augmented the Dept. of Buildings' budget by $5 million next year in order to hire an additional 63 building inspectors. It will bring the total number of inspectors to 461, versus 277 in 2002. The move comes on the heels of publicized events of fatal mishaps. Patricia Lancaster resigned last month as commissioner. Though she was brought in to streamline the notoriously inept and corrupt department, her leadership was questioned after......

Photo of a crane on the Upper East Side by Stacyinthecity on flickr In an attempt to prevent another deadly crane accident, the city's Department of Buildings announced changes yesterday to keep construction "sites safe." The agency laid out several new regulations requiring oversight by city inspectors or a project engineer. Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster said that the new rules are "something that should have been happening" before. The engineer that applied for the......

The Turtle Bay crane collapse took 7 lives, flattened a townhouse, and battered three other buildings, but the calamity’s toll doesn’t stop there: Two tenants returned “home” to find their roofless 19th floor penthouse looted of jewelry and electronics worth $30,000 or $80,000, depending on whether you believe the Post or the News. Jennifer Battistello, 26, and Eileen Hayes, 25, were lucky they were away when the crane's boom fell onto their penthouse. But after......

In the wake of the Turtle Bay crane collapse that left 7 dead and a number of buildings devastated and damaged, The Daily News has a map showing serious crane accidents from the past three years and an investigation about crane accidents have risen. In 2006, there were 19 crane accidents, and there were 29 in 2007, like a foreman "dismantling a crane...[suffering] five broken ribs and internal injuries" in Midtown and a worker being......

Investigators have been looking at the nylon strap, used to help place a heavy steel collar on the crane, as a possible culprit in the Saturday's East 51st Street devastating crane collapse, but one veteran construction worker who helped dismantle the collapsed told WNBC.com the crane wasn't "properly anchored to the ground." The worker "noticed there were no bolts connecting the bottom of the crane tower to a base of steel and concrete beams crisscrossed......

Photograph of workers removing a body from the rubble yesterday by David Karp/AP Investigators suspect that a nylon strap may have started a horrifying chain reaction of events that caused a crane to collapse onto other buildings. Yesterday, emergency workers found the bodies of three missing people, construction workers Santino Gallone and Clifford Canzona, and Florida resident Odin Torres who was in town visiting a friend, raising the total dead to seven. Dozens more......

Photograph above taken of the crane's boom, leaning against 300 East 51st Street, with another crane standing by to remove it, by digiart2001 on Flickr; photograph below of a fire hose - residents are getting water from fire trucks - by AllwaysNY on Flickr Rescue crews have recovered the bodies of three people missing since Saturday's fatal crane collapse from a construction site at 303 East 51st Street onto other buildings on East 51st......

After a number of high-profile construction incidents in the past few years, the Buildings Department announced last month they would introduce stricter safety measures for high-rise construction. Here are some of those incidents: There are terrible construction incidents at sites of all sizes, union or non-union. Last Wednesday, a worker died while digging a foundation in East New York (a neighboring wall collapsed on him). And a 2006 study showed non-union workers are at greatest......

Rescue workers search for survivors at the 305 East 50th Street by Toykin Chin/AP; lower photograph by chucknyc88 on Flickr After a 19-story construction crane collapsed in Turtle Bay and fell towards other buildings, firefighters and other rescue workers are searching for survivors in the rubble. At least four people - all construction workers, Brad Cohen, Aaron Stephens, Anthony Mazza and Wayne Binder - are dead and many more are injured. It's believed two......

As rescuers pick through the rubble of buildings crushed and damaged by a crane collapse in midtown Manhattan yesterday, real estate developer James Kennelly was familiar with the scene because he served 13 years with the FDNY, where he had been assigned to Ladder 16 in Manhattan on East 67th St. The developer of 303 East 51st St., a planned 40+ floor skyscraper where the crane was situated, Kennelly earned a bachelor and law degree......