April 22: NYC building official resigns after accidents: mayor

By Joan Gralla

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's buildings commissioner on Tuesday said she resigned to return to the private sector after a series of construction accidents including a toppled crane that killed seven raised questions about her oversight.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced the resignation of Commissioner Patricia Lancaster in a statement, cited her accomplishments over the past six years, saying she had fought corruption, strengthened inspections, improved the agency's integrity and led the first overhaul of the city's "byzantine" building code in 40 years.

Last month a construction crane fell on a townhouse on Manhattan's East Side, reducing the four-story building to rubble and killing six construction workers and a woman visiting New York.

Neither the independent mayor nor the former buildings commissioner mentioned the accident and other missteps, including incorrectly approving the building with the deadly crane, in their joint statements.

Bloomberg in February had announced a raft of measures aimed at improving worker safety after a spike in fatal construction accidents.

Lancaster said: "After six years in public service, I made this decision because I felt it was time to return to the private sector."