City Blew Off Crane Warning

Twelve days before the crane accident that killed four, the city of New York largely ignored a warning that the crane wasn't braced properly, reports the New York Daily News. An inspector responding to a retired contractor's complaint that the upper 100 feet of the crane was unsecured determined on March 4 that "Crane is erected according to approved" code.

But the complaint was only one of 32 the city received about the site since December, and the Building Department had issued a violation about every five days since Jan. 17. "We've closed restaurants that have fruit flies, but we don't close construction sites that have major safety violations," complained the Manhattan borough president. (More New York City stories.)