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why not? And what, if anything, are you prepared to do about the
failure to cure?
“If it turns out that people in 60 Hudson are not complying
with the law, and the city has to enforce the law and they’re
refusing—or don’t see it as a high priority—that
could be a lawsuit,” Siegel said.
Worries over fuel storage in the building, sparked by a front-page
New York Times article last November, have led to unsuccessful attempts
by residents to learn more about the potential risks posed by the
building and what the city is doing about it. So far they’ve
received only “vague assurances” from the city, according
to the group’s leader, Tim Lannan. In a response to his letter
to the Fire Department, Lannan received a reply from its legal bureau
saying that the department “took certain enforcement actions,
including issuance of violation orders to appropriate parties.”
“It’s no secret [60 Hudson Street] has been identified
as a potential terrorist target,” said Lannan. “For them
not to see this as a threat to health and safety is unconscionable
and irresponsible.”
A Buildings Department spokesman said that he could not comment
because an investigation of 60 Hudson Street was continuing.
Kenneth Carmel, a principal in Williams Real Estate, which owns
and manages the building, could not be reached for comment. But
in a phone interview last November, he insisted that his building
was “100 percent up to code.”
“If there is anything else we can do, we will do it,”
he said.
Gerson, whose chief investigator Martin Rosenblatt sounded the alarm
about the fuel storage last year, said he expects to meet with the
Buildings and Fire Department commissioners this month. “The
good news is there is an awakening to the danger,” he said.
“The bad news is the problem hasn’t been solved by any
means. The city is grappling over what to do with it.”
Gerson said that after meeting with the commissioners, he expects
to introduce legislation setting new standards for diesel fuel storage
and emissions.
In the meantime, Siegel said he will investigate the city’s
enforcement of existing codes and, if necessary, work toward changing
regulations to make buildings like 60 Hudson Street safer.
“If that doesn’t happen, the court is our turf,”
said Siegel. “What’s that old saying, ‘Make my day’?”
Siegel’s legal team includes litigator Steven Hyman and Meile
Rockefeller, a real estate lawyer who is volunteering her services.
(Rockefeller said she got to know Siegel after being arrested for
civil disobedience, protesting her grandfather Nelson’s drug
laws. “Norman got me out of jail,” she said.)
Speaking at the March 7 press conference, State Assmeblywoman Deborah
Glick lashed out at the city for placing a legal burden on residents.
“It should not take the neighbors to have to hire an attorney
to get a response from the Buildings Department,
Nevertheless, those neighbors are buoyed by Siegel’s representation.
“I’m cheered,” said Thomas Street resident Lori Stone,
who first began fighting the building in 1988 over noise and exhaust
emitted by backup generators. “I think the community will rally
around this issue. It affects us all.”
Stone said she has not been able to open her windows for 10 years,
and that the noise from the generators has only become worse. Now,
she said, there are also fears of a conflagration, heightened by
memories of the four months following Sept. 11 when her street was
closed because of security concerns related to 60 Hudson Street.
“I question whether it’s safe to live here,” she
said.
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