NEW YORK --
Almost a year ago, New Yorkers shuddered as they looked toward Lower Manhattan when smoke once again poured from a skyscraper at the World Trade Center site.
The fire was in the Deutsche Bank tower, which was in the process of being demolished as a result of damage it sustained when the twin towers collapsed.
Two firefighters died at least in part because they were trapped in a maze of asbestos-abatement barriers while broken standpipes kept them from getting water to the fire floor.
The mayor announced 33 specific changes to city rules and regulations concerning building demolitions Wednesday afternoon after a study was conducted to determine what went wrong.
Among the recommendations was a fundamental reorientation of the way the fire, buildings and environmental protection departments go about inspecting and monitoring demolition and asbestos abatement. The departments will now coordinate and share the information they collect and inspections they perform.
There are also new rules for contractors about how they allow for access to sites as they demolish buildings and what processes they use to do abatement and demolition.
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