By Cory Wright
Why would the City University of New York, the largest public university system in the world bribe a Public Safety Inspector? And how would the university get away with this crime when they did? This blog will answer both of these questions and identify all the parties that failed in protecting the students, faculty, staff and visitors. This is only possible within a corrupt organization that dismisses accountability at the top. The comfortable callousness displayed by CUNY executives isn’t hidden which says a lot about the university, its leadership, the elected officials and the public agencies whose primary purpose is to protect the public.
DASNY (Dormitory Authority of the State of New York) builds public use buildings for the State of New York, they secure bonds, organize bids, select vendors and do the project management. They also do capital improvement upgrades on public buildings such as public universities, public hospitals, courts etc. Along with securing the bonds and using taxpayer dollars their strange relationship with CUNY positions them as the “Landlords”. They hand pick construction contractors despite previous poor performances and their purposeful underbidding tactics on previous projects. A catalog overflowing with uncompleted projects filled with change orders and never ending punch lists only capitalize the consistent poor workmanship. Yet they continue to use taxpayer dollars to do substandard public projects at 3-4 times the cost of projects privately run. There is no regard for profit and loss statements as taxpayers have bottomless wallets. With that said let’s look at this in broad daylight!
Before the opening of Academic Building 1 aka Science Building at Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, CUNY and DASNY argued weekly about the condition of the mechanical systems. Due to the mishandling of funds DASNY and their bumbling contractors used the house boilers instead of external boilers to heat the building in the last two years of construction. The problem here outside of financial mismanagement is DASNY did ZERO maintenance on the equipment they were using and were only able to provide proof of payment for $500 worth of water treatment. Approximately 20 times shy of an adequate supply. The term “rich in iron” is frequently tossed around in regards to the water analysis by the contracted vendor that takes water samples. Yes, a vendor is hired without a bid process to take the sample, and that vendor is overseen by another vendor which is also hired without a bid process, which is overseen by a Central Office person that is neither a science professional nor mechanically inclined and bares no accountability on the performance of either vendor their procurement or the deliverables regarding environmental impact. Very fluffy. Back to “rich in iron”, it’s like saying someone is rich in poverty. It is stated in a way that you hope no one actually asks, “What does that mean?” Actually, “rich in iron” is construction coded language that means high in rust and/or corrosion. If you state the condition plainly anyone will understand that the condition is bad and in immediate need of repair/remedy. “Rich in iron” is both entertaining and misleading. The parties that write in this fashion are laughing at the recipient because they are actually telling the truth but phrasing it in a way that masks the status of the true condition. Sneaky and deliberate, are not trustworthy traits. Through CUNY’s water treatment consultant, horrific findings were uncovered during construction well before building turnover. After cutting a 10’ cross section of pipe it is discovered that an 8” pipe has been reduced to 4” because of the built up rust and corrosion within two full years prior to building completion. That’s correct and there is no misstatement present. Prior to turning over the building the major mechanicals were rusted, corroded and in dire need of replacement! Think of the piping as valves and arteries and the mechanical equipment as the heart. What happens when valves and arteries are clogged and restricted and not providing designed flow to and from the heart? Exactly! The same thing happens to equipment such as boilers and chillers. At some point the two entities became punch drunk and needed a relief from each others dirty laundry. The fact is CUNY and DASNY have a billion dollar relationship, and the top brass at both entities are well compensated. They don’t really want resolutions, they want problems to go away. Resolutions require accountability and a rethink of the method of operations, that is heavy lifting for skinny arms. They jointly decide to blame the only innocent party, the operations staff that will receive their shoddy work upon turnover. To save their fragile reputations they hide, cover-up and conceal the truths about their work together in a feverish manner.
After turning over leaking boilers and acting as if they were not leaking DASNY and CUNY collaborate to do “upgrades” which are actually original project completions and repairs to equipment damaged during construction/install. Many projects were not completed because vendors walked off the job but you would never know that unless you asked the perfect question. Shout out to transparency and teamwork. Months after a retubing of three brand new boilers they start leaking again. All three. These boilers were leaking hours after start up. The retubing was completed in late spring which provided zero to low demand and were never tested under a full load (winter season). What professional would not have the integrity to stand by their work and do testing of work performed? Would your auto mechanic test the vehicle before giving it you or just say its fixed and turn it over to you?
One and a half months into the heating season all three boilers are malfunctioning. They are leaking, not starting and/or inoperable due to bastardizing. Bastardizing is construction code for taking parts from one piece of equipment to make another piece of equipment operable. Swapping parts is an industry no-no, yet it is a common practice of the tag team DASNY and CUNY. It is widely understood that this practice is a clear indication of poor workmanship along with shady substandard contracting. When this behavior was pointed out in real time it was initially denied, and when verified in the field, it was retracted and justified as an emergency in order to “test” the inoperable boilers.
One of the boilers that we were able to get running experiences a blow back. When steam builds up in a boiler it creates an internal pressurized condition where either the steam is released via an explosion door (safety mechanism) or the boiler explodes which can be catastrophic. Boilers are designed to release steam and an explosion door is similar to the human body burping, release of excess gas or pressure. The Operating Engineer on duty responds accordingly by taking the boiler out of service and contacts the Department of Buildings Boiler Unit. Coincidentally this Operator called his “friend” at DOB whom he previously worked with at Con Edison. How are we sure this was his “friend”? Well several staff and myself supported this Operator at his wedding a few months prior and this DOB Inspector was one of his groomsman. As you can see it is starting to look a little suspect.
The Inspector arrives and takes the boiler out of service as he is the safety enforcement agent with the authority to administer such actions. This fact is critical and to be remembered moving forward. This Inspector, the boiler manufacturer’s representative and I worked in unison via in person walkthroughs, telephone conference calls and email (documentation) over the next month to identify cause and effect. During the course of multiple visits this Inspector inquires about issues inside the boiler room that are not related to the boilers but are too obvious to overlook. Both myself and the engineering staff are happy to satisfy his inquiries. We believe that dialogue with this regulatory agency will lead to DASNY and CUNY resolving the root causes of the mechanical issues and they will stop covering up the blatant miscues. At this point the Inspector is one of the good guys. With the groomsman to our engineers’ wedding on our side doing his job in public safety the future looks bright. #inkblotlife #careermix
