Port Authority To Make Inspection Records Public

NEW YORK CITY-To demonstrate that it’s in compliance with city building and safety codes–although it’s not legally bound by them–the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Thursday announced that it will publish an annual report with inspection records and conformance status for all of its facilities. The initiative is being launched in collaboration with Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer, who last summer issued a five-point plan calling for governmental agencies to comply with the city’s codes.

With its first edition scheduled for Q1 2009, the annual report will cover for the first time all Port Authority facilities in both New York and New Jersey. World Trade Center buildings controlled by the authority will be part of the report, along with the agency’s airports, bridges, tunnels, terminals and port and PATH facilities.

In a release, Stringer calls the initiative “an important way for us to ensure the public and first responders that the Port Authority has been working diligently to make sure its public facilities conform with applicable building and fire codes and are safe for the hundreds of thousands of people who go through them every year. The authority’s initiative is an example that should be followed by other state, federal and international entities which are technically exempt from city building and safety standards.”