Built In 1846, Aging Home Of NYC Buildings Department Is Falling Apart; Agency Officials Acknowledge Struggle To Comply With Their Own Building Code; Spokesperson: "Yes, We Get The Irony!"

In New York City, the New York Post reports:

• The city agency charged with keeping buildings safe can’t keep its own premises in good repair.
  
  The city-owned landmark building that’s home to the Department of Buildings — best known to passers-by for its ancient clock advertising the old New York Sun newspaper — is falling apart.
  
  A falling concrete slab closed a parking garage on Aug. 19 beneath the city-owned building at 280 Broadway, which dates to 1846.
  
  The building’s crumbling exterior led the city to surround it a decade ago with a sidewalk shed that’s still in place today. In 2011, the city added scaffolding that’s also still installed.
  
  The exterior work began as a routine facade inspection and repair project required by city law — but grew to a multiyear renovation job. “It’s horrible and it’s dangerous,” said a food-cart operator who works on the block.
  
  Department officials are aware their headquarters is struggling to meet city building codes.
  
  “Yes, we get the irony,” said DOB spokesman Alexander Schnell. “But in many ways DOB is just like any other tenant in the city. We have no construction crews of our own, so we need our landlord to repair the building.”
  
  When the sub-basement ceiling collapsed last month, “we handled it like any other building complaint,” he added.

Source: Buildings Department struggles to maintain its own building.