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Staten Island Advance

Homeless for weeks after wall collapse

Owner of the property is city chairman for
Giuliani's campaign

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

By KAREN O'SHEA and JILLIAN JORGENSEN
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It could be at least two weeks before five
families can return to their Dongan Hills homes, officials estimated
yesterday, just hours after a 50-foot-high, 50-foot-long section of
retaining wall behind prominent Staten Island attorney John D'Amato's
house gave way in the wake of drenching rains.

The house itself is not in danger of collapse.

It was the second time in two months that a large wall crumbled,
leaving Islanders temporarily homeless. During an April 15 nor'easter, a
50-foot beachfront wall collapsed in Rosebank. Nine displaced families are
still not back in their homes.

This time, the collapse happened above a visible, busy stretch of
Richmond Road and behind the home of high-profile and politically
connected attorney D'Amato, who is presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani's
city campaign chairman.

The Buildings Department issued D'Amato a violation yesterday for
failure to maintain the wall -- standard practice in such cases, an agency
spokeswoman said. The department is still investigating the collapse
behind 96 Overlook Ave., but officials said water damage may have led to
the failure.

But it was not the first violation. In 2002, D'Amato was cited for
building the wall without a permit. His engineer, Gaspare Santoro, filed
to legalize the wall and the permit was issued to JBL Contracting Inc., a
family-run construction business founded by D'Amato's late father. Two
years later, D'Amato submitted an affidavit to Buildings stating that the
wall was complete and up to code, with his engineer signing off on the
information.

Buildings spot-checks about 20 percent of such self-certified plans,
but the agency did not audit the documents or inspect the wall after the
affidavit was submitted.

BUILDING DEPT. PROBE

"The Buildings Department is investigating whether documents submitted
to the Department as part of the sign-off inspection were in fact
compliant as certified by the building owner's engineer," Spokeswoman Kate
Lindquist said in an e-mail yesterday.

The sign-off inspection was conducted by Santoro, who in 2004 was cited
by the state Department of Education -- the licensing body -- for "grossly
negligent failure to comply with the substantial provision of local laws
governing the practice of architecture." Santoro was placed on two years'
probation. D'Amato did not return phone calls seeking comment, but Borough
President James Molinaro called the collapse an "act of God" fueled both
by Monday's record-breaking rain and the stress of a powerful April
nor'easter.

CONTINUED
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