LiMandri keynote speaker at BOMA/NY Conference - Oct. 15

In his keynote address to the BOMA/NY Annual Conference held October 15 at the New York Marriott Marquis, the newly-appointed New York City Buildings Department commissioner Robert LiMandri declared that "there is no reason we cannot build safety in! Thousands of buildings are doing it right now." Accidents, he believes, are due to "people not doing their job. We need to hold the individuals accountable who are not following the codes and not following up on the job site." He pointed, in particular, to those "who are not in the room" as being at fault, and stated that as commissioner, he would move the industry to the place "where we all want it to be," emphasizing his department will be "transparent." LiMandri, who opened his talk by recalling his days as a building manager, called on the BOMA/NY members to make sure that their staff members are all thoroughly familiar with the codes and enforcement measures, and promised equal diligence from the City, where "the guys on the ground are being pro-active" and being equipped with hand-held computer devices with connectivity so that inspections can be done more efficiently. The conference featured a morning of seminars devoted to the latest issues confronting the commercial real estate industry, including the new New York City Construction Code, how to make a building's Emergency Action Plan even more effective, and sustainability options, including how to pursue sustainability when LEED is not an option. It was attended by more than 250 real estate professionals and representatives of the state and city government, the FDNY and other city agencies. The conference also included BOMA/NY's Annual Meeting, where all four current officers were re-elected to a second one-year term: Angelo Grima of Grubb & Ellis Management Services, Inc., president; Edward Fallon, RPA, Brookfield Properties, vice president; Louis Mantia, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., treasurer and Thomas Hill, RPA, Boston Properties, Inc., secretary. Grima also presented John Tosloskie, who has delivered the meal-time blessing at almost 200 BOMA/NY events, with a hand-illustrated keepsake volume, entitled Blessings, of all the prayers he has said for the BOMA/NY community.