In Wake Of Crane Collapse, Bloomberg Imposes New Licensing Requirements

When a crane collapsed in Hudson Yards earlier this month, killing one and injuring four, it set off a big battle between the Bloomberg administration and the crane operators union, the Local 14 of the International Union of Operating Engineers.

The administration wanted stricter standards and crane operators to pass a national certification test; the union said that the administration was merely doing the bidding of real estate developers, who wanted to break their hold on construction jobs, and said that New York City was such a unique environment that a national test wouldn’t be appropriate.