By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Controversy continues to swirl around the Webb Building renovation project where a construction worker was killed last week. Mayor Byron Brown was joined by two top officials of his administration Wednesday to discuss allegations that his top aide intervened in a stop work order an inspector was trying to enforce.
Mayor Brown used charts and handouts detailing his version of what happened on February 23rd when, according to Building Inspector Peter Klemann in a "Buffalo News" interview, Deputy Mayor Steven Casey intervened when Klemann tried to shut down construction at the Webb Building. The Mayor says Casey instructed the disputing parties to report to City Hall to resolve the dispute. Police Commissioner McCarthy Gipson confirmed that Wednesday. Gipson said he talked with one of the officers who were called to the scene. He said officer Mary May personally called Casey in the privacy of her patrol car and that Casey did not exert any political interference.
Moreover, Corporation Counsel Alisa Lukasiewicz asserted Wednesday that the City Charter requires written, not verbal, stop work orders. She said Klemann did not present such a written order during his dispute with Developer Rocco Termini, who is converting the 119-year-old building into upscale apartments.
Brown said the bottom line is that proper permits were in place on the day a construction worker fell 30 feet to his death.
Police Commissioner Gipson did confirm Wednesday that officers responding to the accident did see what appeared to be workers installing safety railings after the worker fell.
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