BY VINCENT BARONE
Years of negligence and
“serious fl aws” in inspection
techniques led to the high-profi
le, partial ceiling collapse in
the Brooklyn Borough Hall
station last year, according to
a new audit.
The report issued Tuesday
from the MTA’s inspector general
found that the transit authority
had identifi ed the defects
that led to the collapse
two years earlier, in 2016. But
inspectors failed to grasp the
seriousness of the degradation
because of a lack of expertise
in inspecting the decorative
terra cotta tiles adorning the
century-old station.
But the MTA had also been
aware for nearly a decade
that it didn’t have the proper
knowledge to assess those
more uncommon subway fi xtures;
the inspector general
released two previous audits
on the matter—once in 2010
and again in 2012—following
a similar collapse of brick ceiling
of the 181st Street station
in Washington Heights.
“It is extremely fortunate
that no one was seriously injured
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in the Borough Hall ceiling
collapse last June,” said
MTA Inspector General Carolyn
Pokorny in a statement.
“Had the recommendations
issued in our 2010 report been
fully implemented, it is likely
that the extensive station damage
and costly repairs could
have been reduced, if not prevented.”
Pokorny’s offi ce found the
MTA inspectors falsely determined
that immediate repairs
were not required at the Borough
Hall station—despite repeatedly
noting its deteriorating
ceiling.
The incompetence and negligence
led the MTA to spend
an “exorbitant” $8.3 million
in a likely unnecessary emergency
repair involving the
installation of a temporary
protective shield over the platform
and tracks, according to
the OIG. One commuter suffered
a minor injury and refused
medical attention, the
MTA and FDNY reported at
the time.
The inspections are the
responsibility of the MTA’s
“Maintenance Of Way”
(MOW) engineers. Pokorny’s
offi ce has recommended that
the MTA train those inspectors
to identify and document
unusual construction and materials
during their work; that
those workers should be required
to disclose when they
can’t assess materials and
seek outside consultants when
necessary, among other proposals.
Pokorny’s offi ce said the
IG had urged the MTA to seek
outside consultants for unusual
construction materials
in its 2010 report, but the authority
has been reluctant to
do so. Terra cotta work is present
in 13 of the MTA’s 472 stations,
according to the IG.
The MTA in its response
agreed with the recommendations.
It said it has begun working
to institute special procedures
for inspecting special
features and new internal audits
will take place each quarter
to make sure those procedures
are being followed.
“For years the MTA has
One commuter suffered a minor injury and refused medical attention in
a partial ceiling collapse at the Borough Hall station in Brooklyn in 2018.
Photo by Eric Chan/Twitter
been using outside consultants
to perform special structural
inspections and surveys, in addition
to NYC Transit inspections
that occur annually,” said
MTA spokesman Tim Minton
in a statement. “When the century
old Borough Hall station
ceiling proved defective, engineers
assessed the materials
involved, shielding the structure,
until a full rehabilitation
could begin as part of the new
capital plan.”
MTA negligence, inspection fl aws
led to Boro Hall ceiling collapse
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