Good Government is Tested

It is hard to predict just how wide an area the fall-out from The Deutches Bank Building Fire will cover and how many people it will bring down. Punishing the three professionals in the direct line is both too much and not enough. Not enough because the decision making that led to this fire and its tragic results extends through the professional level to the civilian level of the Fire Department and includes those on the Lower Manhattan Development Council. It flows through the LMDC appointees to the people they report to--- those that appointed them.

Critical to a fair airing of the cause and result of this fire is the method of selection of the contractors and of the sub-contractors. But I am not optimistic that this part will be touched at all and that is what makes the censure of the three professionals way too much.