Yesterday, a judge ordered the Bloomberg administration to compensate the families of two workers killed in 2008's Upper East Side crane collapse $5,000. The families of workers Donald C. Leo and Ramadan Kurtaj filed a lawsuit against the crane company and the Buildings Department, accusing them of negligence and corruption in the building project, but the city repeatedly ignored requests and court orders for documents and information regarding the safety of the equipment used on the collapse site. Mr Kurtaj's family lawyer, Susan Karten, told the Times, "It behooves the mayor to ask the city’s lawyers to stop this kind of obfuscation and to turn over crucial documents in this case."
Judge Paul G. Feinman of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan found the city acted in “flagrant disregard” of a court order requiring the city to provide notice of crane tests, and ordered the city to compensate each family $2,500 for legal fees. According to NY1, the city's Law Department said in a statement that they do not believe they were in violation of any court orders. Last month the owner of the crane company was indicted on manslaughter charges, and the crane inspector admitted taking bribes.
