Fulfilling a campaign pledge made in an era before rampant building collapses, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new building code yesterday. The plan needs City Council approval to take effect, which to our minds cannot happen soon enough:
Nearly four years and 20 committees in the making, the changes are part of the most comprehensive overhaul in the history of the code, which shapes the city’s interior workings in areas dire and mundane, controlling everything from stairway reinforcement to rooftop color to the alignment of toilet paper dispensers in private bathrooms. The code’s last major revision was in 1968.· Bloomberg Outlines Plan to Rewrite City’s Construction Codes [NYTimes]
· The Mayor in Your Bathroom [The Real Estate]