The city will suspend an engineer’s inspection authority for two years after finding he misdiagnosed a structural column at a Bronx building that partially collapsed last year, officials said Thursday.

Richard Koenigsberg will not be allowed to inspect building facades during his suspension as part of an agreement he reached with the city, Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of Buildings said in a news release. 


What You Need To Know

  • The city will suspend an engineer’s inspection authority for two years after finding he misdiagnosed a structural column at a Bronx building that partially collapsed last year

  • Richard Koenigsberg will not be allowed to inspect building facades during his suspension as part of an agreement he reached with the city. He will also be required to pay a $10,000 fine

  • Two people sustained minor injuries, but no one was seriously hurt when part of the building on Billingsley Terrace in Morris Heights collapsed on Dec. 11

Koenigsberg will also be required to pay a $10,000 fine, the release said.

“Public safety is our administration’s top priority, and the signing of today’s agreement should serve as a reminder to all construction professionals about the importance of carrying out their duties professionally, competently, and, most importantly, safely,” Adams said in a statement.

Two people sustained minor injuries, but no one was seriously hurt when part of the building on Billingsley Terrace in Morris Heights collapsed on Dec. 11. The Department of Buildings temporarily suspended Koenigsberg’s inspection authority days after the collapse, saying the engineer misdiagnosed a structural column as decorative in plans he filed with the agency in June of last year. 

Koenigsberg had been contracted to carry out façade inspections and repairs at the building before the collapse, officials said.

The agreement will allow Koenigsberg to “wind down his business over a four-month period, during which he will be allowed to complete any active jobs where he was previously contracted to perform Local Law 11 façade safety inspections,” the release said. 

Inspection reports for jobs that were already underway, however, will “undergo peer review approval by a third-party engineering firm” before they are submitted to the Department of Buildings. They will also face “enhanced scrutiny from senior DOB engineers,” the release added.

The collapse is still under investigation by the Department of Buildings, the city’s Department of Investigation and the Bronx district attorney’s office, according to the release.