by FRANK ROSARIO
Safety-code compliance is merely optional for hundreds of structures throughout the city - including the proposed Freedom Tower - despite strict new building codes that went into effect after 9/11, a city official said yesterday.
State and federal buildings, as well as buildings associated with the United Nations, are not required to meet the new standards, which include a moratorium on metal bar joints like the type that failed when the Twin Towers collapsed on 9/11.
Among the buildings not meeting the new standards was the high-rise Deutsche Bank building, a critically damaged 9/11 remnant where firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino died last year in a blaze that grew out of control because of a faulty standpipe.
"When it comes to safety, no one is above the law," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. "We need to learn from our mistakes."
Additional reporting by Leonard Greene
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