A "smoking gun memo" obtained by the Village Voice indicates that before being appointed the new commissioner of the FDNY, Salvatore Cassano repeatedly ignored warnings that the Deutsche Bank building—the site of a fatal 2007 blaze—was a safety hazard. According to the alt weekly, the longtime FDNY veteran was briefed on the possible dangers at the 9/11-damaged site, and "was more personally involved than [previous Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta] in the negligence that cost the lives of Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino and injuries to another 115 firefighters."
Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau nearly pressed criminal charges against the city for the blaze, which firefighters tried to fight despite a broken standpipe that left them without water. And if Morgenthau had, the memo that never got past Cassano's desk would have been the crux of the DA's legal argument, according to the paper. But Cassano—who was brought before grand jury to discuss why he ignored the dispatch—wasn't identified by name in the DA's 32-page report, apparently shielding "the new commissioner from media criticism."
So far, Cassano has escaped the lionshare of the blame for the Deutsche Bank debacle, and the Voice alleges his promotion is "an implicit shot at the [Department of Investigation] and the D.A.'s office, as well as a message to the loyal elite at the top of the administration that no one would be held accountable, even for fatal blunders, as long as they were team players."
