ONE of the most puzzling aspects in a politically charged investigation of building practices in Brooklyn is how a developer obtained certificates of occupancy for 11 buildings riddled with hazardous conditions.
Forty people living in seven apartments at 25 to 49 Lorimer St. in Williamsburg were evacuated this week after inspectors determined they were in danger.
Previous inspections found inadequate fire exits as well as deformed and unbraced floors.
But somehow every one of the 11 attached structures had a certificate of occupancy issued by the Buildings Department, either in August or September 1998.
“The question everyone is asking is, how did these buildings get these COs,” said one source.
The buildings were constructed by Chaim Ostreicher, the same developer who owns a property around the corner where a 22-year-old day laborer died during the pouring of concrete onto an insufficiently braced floor.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ office is now investigating whether the city’s enforcement of the building code in Williamsburg was influenced by the political clout of the Hasidic community
One of those making such a charge is former Brooklyn buildings chief Joseph Trivisonno — who just happens to be the guy who signed off on the Lorimer Street buildings.
Trivisonno, who approved hundreds of COs a year, told The Post he didn’t recall the Lorimer Street project.
He told The Jewish Week that alarming memos issued by the Fire Department citing hazards at the project “probably never got to my desk. No one brought me any records there was anything wrong with the building.”
That, of course, raises the question of what happened to those memos.
“These were permitted under Trivisonno. They were approved under Trivisonno. If there was a problem, they occurred on his watch,” said one official.
Trivisonno allies charge the Giuliani administration is trying to undermine Trivisonno by searching for projects where he “cut some slack to show it was normal operating procedure.”
Looks like Hynes has plenty to investigate.
A local rabbi, Leib Glanz, turned up on the scene when the Lorimer Street buildings were evacuated.
Glanz drove up in a silver-and-blue Chevy Suburban with official state plates, an array of emergency lights on the roof and three parking placards on the windshield.
One was issued by the city’s Transportation Department to the United Talmudic Academy, which Glanz heads. Officials said it is one of 4,000 issued annually to non-profit groups. Another came from the 90th Precinct. The third was a New York State Law Enforcement permit.
The vehicle is registered to the village of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic community in Orange County about 90 minutes north of Brooklyn.
Glanz parked in front of a fire hydrant.
He didn’t return calls to explain why he needs — or merits — such special treatment.