Last week at I had the good fortune of meeting the new DOB Commissioner Eric Ulrich, along with nearly 3,000 business people affiliated with real estate and property management at the PCON 2022 conference in Staten Island.
Eric answered direct questions from the public, and emphasized Mayor Adams' focus on the construction industry in rebuilding the NYC economy post Covid. To that end, the Commissioner committed to a 90-day review of the entire DOB system beginning right after Labor Day! His goal is to use a common-sense approach to completely reform the DOB, and make it more accessible to all New Yorkers.
I approached the commissioner to personally thank him for his commitment to streamlining things, bringing back in person plan exams, and renaming homeowners night to “Buildings After Hours" to make it accessible for homeowners, tenants, small business owners and building managers.
I brought to his attention that in response to our petition, I had met with his IT team who were working with us to fix the many technical issues, and he thanked me for the work we all do as construction professionals, expediters and consultants—the cornerstone of the NYC economy! He will be closely following feedback from the community in determining what needs to stay and what needs to go!
We eagerly anticipate the changes the Commissioner is going to propose, and we can all take credit for speaking up and helping to make this happen!