WNYC reports this morning that the Department of Buildings is hiring 63 new building inspectors at a time when construction accidents are at an all time high.

According to New York 1, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Acting Buildings Commissioner Robert
LiMandri said that $5 million was added to the
Department of Buildings’s budget to fund 63 new positions.

These new workers will implement the DOB’s Special
Enforcement Plan. Teams will monitor construction
programs, re-inspect sites with prior violations and check for sidewalk
shed electrical safety.

13 people have died this year construction accidents,
seven of whom were killed when a crane smashed into several buildings
in Turtle Bay in March.