CRANE BIG WAS WARNED

NIXED ALERT ON OLD EQUIPMENT

By LARRY CELONA, CHUCK BENNETT and BILL SANDERSON

A top Department of Buildings inspector overrode a subordinate's worries that the crane on East 91st Street was unsafe before its fatal collapse, law-enforcement sources told The Post.

Investigators want to know why the high-ranking inspector, Michael Carbone, let the Kodiak crane operate despite the subordinate's worry that the equipment, manufactured nearly 20 years ago, was too old and had undergone too much significant repair work, one source said.

The lower-ranking inspector wanted to bar the crane from the project. But Carbone overruled the employee's fears, and said that the crane was safe to operate, said the source.

It was unclear whether Carbone made his decision when the crane was in its yard, or as it was being assembled on East 91st Street.

Investigators can't say Carbone was wrong to let the building's contractors put the aged crane to work - based on what he knew about the crane, his decision may have been correct, say sources.

But after two deadly crane collapses, and the arrests of two inspectors accused of falsifying reports and taking bribes, probers are leaving no stone unturned.

Department of Buildings officials would not comment on Carbone's actions, since the question is "related to matters that are under investigation" by the agency and law enforcement. Carbone could not be reached for comment.

In 2005, Carbone was promoted to the post of the city's chief crane inspector. Recently, he was named chief inspector of the DOB Emergency Response Team.

Investigators are now focusing on defective bolts and welds in the crane's turntable. The bolts snapped in the May 30 collapse, which killed two crew workers.

But those weren't the only problems with the crane, which belonged to New York Crane & Equipment Corp. of Brooklyn.

Records show that on April 23, a buildings inspector issued a partial stop-work order on the crane after finding two mechanical defects.

One was a problem with a device on the crane that keeps its vertical boom from falling if it swings too low. Another was leaky grease seal on drums around which the crane's cables were wound. The order was rescinded on May 21, nine days before the accident.