Firms with Troubled Pasts Linked to Midtown Construction Incident

Among those associated with firms involved in the project at 235 East 42nd Street are individuals with problematic histories. A man once involved in bribery and a developer who provided a loan to Bernard Kerik are connected.

Last week, two support columns in a midtown high-rise project failed, causing panic and leading to evacuations at the East 42nd Street area.

The oversight company for the building project under investigation for structural faults was founded by a former city official disgraced and later convicted of bribery. This former official, Ronald Lattanzio, was an assistant commissioner at the Buildings Department during the 1980s. He resigned amid allegations of hosting drug-fueled parties at his office.

Later working in the private sector, Lattanzio pleaded guilty to bribery in 1998 and became a cooperating witness. He testified in a 2001 corruption trial that he exchanged gifts and hosted fundraisers for a city councilman. According to Lattanzio, these actions led the councilman to make beneficial calls within city bureaucracy on his behalf.

Domani Inspection Services, the company Lattanzio established, was in charge of ensuring structural changes and other major renovations at the 235 East 42nd Street site were conducted correctly as the building was transformed from office space to residential apartments.

The Manhattan district attorney and the city’s Department of Investigation have started a preliminary criminal inquiry into the incident that led to the column failures, which caused significant panic and evacuations. Spokeswomen for the agencies refused to comment.

After reviewing structural designs and images, engineers not associated with the project indicated that the failed columns on the building’s 21st floor seem inadequately reinforced with steel plates. A representative from GACE Consulting Engineers, the structural team for the project, mentioned that their plans did include additional support for the columns, but this was not executed.