Public Employee Press

Local 1070 protests courthouse conditions

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Judith S. Kaye keeps a very dirty house.

As the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals, Judge Kaye runs the house at 60 Centre St. in lower Manhattan, the State Supreme Court, together with Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman. But the landmark courthouse is plagued with asbestos, faulty wiring, rodents, roaches, water bugs and ledges caked so thick with pigeon droppings that it’s hazardous for workers to open the windows.

For two years Local 1070 has filed grievances and called for inspections. Getting few results, members hit the streets April 7 in a lunchtime protest at Foley Square, across the street from the columned courthouse of horrors.

“Clean up the mess!” was their rallying cry. “It’s outrageous that the highest court in our state tolerates such extremely gross conditions,” said Local 1070 President Cliff Koppelman. “These judges pride themselves on running problem-solving courts, but this courthouse is in desperate need of some problem solving too.”

The state spent millions to renovate the granite exterior, the judges’ chambers, and the historic rotunda with murals by Italian artist Attilio Pusterla. But in the courthouse basement, pools of stagnant water breed mosquitoes and other insects that buzz their way into the workrooms.

Cracked and chipped floor tiles affixed with asbestos buckle and break in the lunchroom. Faulty wiring shocks clerical workers and the public who touch metal counters in Room 141. Employees and the public are exposed to an electromagnetic field that is “off the charts,” said Chief Shop Steward Steven Schwartz. Con Edison measures EMF with a Gauss reading, where 5 is acceptable, but 60 Centre St. ranges from 20 to 60. Outer walls and the basement read as high as 200.

The building belongs to the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services. While the Office of Court Administration does not take the situation lightly, neither OCA nor landlord DCAS accepts full responsibility to correct the dangerous and disgusting conditions, said Guille Mejia of DC 37’s Safety and Health Dept.

The state Attorney General’s office is looking into OCA’s failure to provide right-to-know training. “The pileup of agencies investigating conditions shows that OCA has neglected the workers’ safety for a long time,” Mejia said.

A recent OCA budget allocated the building $180,000 for bottled water and a mere $2,580 for repairs.

OCA wastes tax money
Meanwhile, the courthouse continues to rack up thousands of dollars in citations and unpaid fines, including 36 serious violations and countless electrical violations from the State Labor Dept.

“Demonstrations will continue until our members have a safe workplace,” said Fausto Sabatino, local vice president. Along with Andrew Cuomo, a state attorney general candidate, City Council members Alan Gerson and Alan Jennings and state Sen. John Sampson joined the protest and promised to seek funds for a cleanup.

“The money OCA will spend on fines could be better used to correct the problems,” Koppelman said. “It’s a waste of taxpayer money. It’s time management cleans up its act!”