By Tom Liddy
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Hey New York, you might want to get your house in order - while it's still standing.
City-owned buildings have amassed hundreds of outstanding Buildings Department violations - from paperwork snafus to citations for crumbling walls and facades, according to a report.
Manhattan Criminal Court, at 100 Centre Street, has an eyepopping 109 open violations, including failing to maintain the stairs used to exit the building and a partial stop work order for not getting approval for work done in two courtrooms, the Daily News says.
And it's law and disorder over at police headquarters at 1 Police Plaza, where there are 98 violations, ranging from failing to file boiler and elevator inspection reports to not equipping emergency exits with their own power supply - a requirement since 9/11.
Although many of the violations are minor, some were issued by the Environmental Control Board, which can levy fines of up to $25,000 for more serious infractions.
While private building owners cited by the ECB typically have a month to pay the fine or appear in court, violations to city buildings have gone uncorrected for years, the report says.
One critic slammed what he called a "double standard" in enforcement.
"The city has really stepped up their enforcement on private building owners in recent years, but they clearly haven't cared about their own," Frank Ricci, a spokesman for the Rent Stabilization Association, told the News.
Even the Department of Buildings headquarters, at 280 Broadway, near Chambers Street, has a slew of open violations including failing to safeguard a crumbling facade and not installing proper fire safeguards in the basement.
Among the 16 for Gracie Mansion are failing to fix a crumbling wall. The problem was corrected but the Department of Buildings was never informed, the report says.
An administration source told the paper that the city needs to do a better job at fixing the problems and keeping records.
A spokesman for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which maintains a number of the structures, says that many of the violations were in the process of being rectified, according to the paper.
