Most of the transient events such as trade shows or concerts are held in places that do not have assembly occupancy or in temporary structures such as grounds. In such instances, a Temporary Place of Assembly Certificate of Operation (TPA) is always required to ensure that the safety, welfare, and health of the attendees are guaranteed. In New York, the New York City Department of Buildings (NYC BC) enforces adherence to these regulations by conducting reviews and inspections before the issuance of TPA. This paper focuses on the various procedures required in the publication of TPA, the guidelines, the committee planning before the event and lastly the inspection procedures.
Barclay’s center is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is in Brooklyn, New York City. The arena hosts various events such as sporting activities, concerts, and entertainment events. The arena is constructed by rusted steel panels that wind around the building. The groups are non- identical, and they plunge together forming a canopy above the building. The canopy creates a circular space that serves as the arena's pavilion. Like most of the public venues, the arena has no dedicated parking a lot but is easily accessible near the bus station, rail and the subway (Gonchar,2018). Besides, the center has various security cameras, and screening is done to every person to ensure that no risks are involved. Barclay’s center having been developed in 2004 near residential buildings and other businesses faced significant hurdles in its development as it might have posed potential environmental impact. As a result, it had to comply with strong construction regulations that would ensure that the safety of people is not compromised.
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TPA is legal permission that is issued by the NYDC in case there are 75 or more people are gathered within an indoor space or 200 or more are collected in an exterior open area. The legal permit allows the events space to be used as a place of Assembly for a limited duration of time. Similarly, it limits the type of structures and support structures that are supposed to be used in particular used. Often, TPAs are sued for regularly scheduled events with limited duration such as political rallies, exhibitions, concerts, and one-of-a-kinds events (NYC Business.2018). However, activities that use open spaces that are easily accessible by the public primarily for the promotion of products and services do not qualify for a TPA.
Before a TPA is issued for any event, the organization requiring the legal permit must submit an application letter from a Registered Design Professional (RDP), who is registered with a licensed body of engineers in the New York state. The application letter should adequately describe the premises that the events will happen including drawings of the layout and stamped by the RDP. To ensure that TPA is processed on time, the application must be submitted ten days before the actual day of the event. In most cases, a form that is submitted three days prior the event is not often guaranteed approval. The applications must be typed, and any handwritten applications are not accepted.
Before the actual happening of the event, the team makes various arrangements that will ensure that the information stated by the applicant is correct. One, of the thing, is doing a property search of the place the event is bound to take place. This is to ensure that the property has no prior violation, is existing and most importantly to ensure that there is no duplication. On the day of visiting the place, the event is taking place, the inspector requests for all documents including floor plan, fire safety guards and the copies of the certificate. The event sponsor submits his "Place of Assembly Fires Safety Personnel."
After all, has been done, meetings are organized in the Mayor's office Special Events Department in Collaboration with the Fire Department, Police Department, Department of Buildings and the Department of Small Business service to ensure that all the safety measures are in place. Each department must ask for all the necessary documents and permits to address concerns that will provide a safety event. The Fire Department New York City (FDNY ) must, for example, ensure that the essential evacuation measures are in place in case of an emergency. This was learned from the Love Parade Music Festival that killed almost 30 people. The people attending the concert were crushed and suffocated to death after a mass panic. The concert event which was supposed to be holding 250,000 people, held about 1.4 million people. During the escape, the event organizer has not put the necessary emergency exits to accommodate all the people in the concert. The attendees suffered from severe injuries as they tried to scamp to safety in the narrow exits and entrances.
The inspection process is very essential to ensure that the event’s sponsor has not only complied with the plan but also in the actual setting. Before the inspection, the inspector must ensure he has the necessary documents submitted by the client. He also does a thorough search in the FDNY website and the database to ensure that there no past infractions. He also examines the Buildings Department database to learn about the building classification and other regulatory laws and rules required by NYC Department of Building (DOB) (Fire Department Rules. (2015). Any variance of the said rules and regulations during the inspection is subjected to strict fines and non- issuance of the TPA certificate (Murphy, 2018).
On average most of the people are reluctant to comply with most of the rules and regulations citing lack of knowledge. Besides, the events staff may not have the necessary updated fire guards and permits. Appropriate Signage is not very frequent which may cause many casualties in case of an emergency. Apart from ignorance from the most sponsors of the events, most of the time the inspector may lack enough personnel required to supervise large affairs or crowd management. It is, therefore, the role of the inspector to ensure that all the safety concerns are solved before the commencement of the event and leaving the site.
Inspection of daily activities also depends on the number of TPA requested by the event's sponsors every year. Since the issuance of TPA is a process in itself, the agencies responsible for reviewing plans and issuing the initial permit must also put a lot of effort to ensure that the process itself is a success. On average the NYFD receives six TPA requests daily. Over the years, the number has decreased as most of the event sponsors do not want to pay the cost associated with the permit.
Research methods are very critical in every research as they determine its success, validity, and reliability. To learn more about how TPAs works in New York, I interviewed the supervising inspector of the NYFD who is mandated with the responsibility of safety inspection at special events throughout the city. To ensure that I gained a lot in the interview, I focused on creating open-ended questions that acted as a checklist in the whole interview process this allowed in-depth probing while allowing the chief inspector to keep the interview within the perimeters of the aim of the study. Additionally, the location of the interview was appropriate as it allowed us to engage freely on tasks involved while conducting TPAs inspection.
To ensure that inspector general opened up more about the discussion, I assured him that whatever he will say will be kept in confidence. Before the commencement of the interview, I promised to protect his privacy which enabled me to earn trust from him. I purposed on collecting the data through taking notes as opposed to the tape recording the interview. The meeting took approximately one and half hours. However, I took additional time to clarify various aspects that were mentioned in the interview especially the initial and the legal terms.
Participant observation, for many years, has been hall marl of both anthropological and sociological studies. While accompanying the general inspector in one of the most spectacular arenas in New York City, the Barclays Center, I had the opportunity of learning so many things concerning TPAs. I developed a holistic understanding where the fire exits are supposed to be placed visibly with the appropriate signage. Besides, i learned about other security measures that were supposed to be implemented to enhance the safety of the people. The isles were very clear to provide free movement without hindrance. Other audio and visual notifications communication measures had been put in place to assist the people in the arena. This method of data collection was quite useful as it allowed me to learn detailed descriptions of situation and behavior of people participating in the events. By interviewing, I would not have discovered how the arena is constructed. I was therefore to gain a glimpse of how the architectural designs in the arena and other recreational facilities inside. It is through observation that I learned how the open spaces are demarcated depending on the type of event that is taking place in the arena, whether it is an entertainment or sporting event. These facilities included the family restrooms and shops that attendees can purchase beverages and snacks. It also improved the quality of data that I would later collect from interviewing the general inspector by facilitating the development of new research questions.
Both methods of data collection; interviewing and participant observation played an essential role in ensuring I got a better understanding of the TPA process, interviewing played a crucial role. It is through an interview that I was able to ask the further question of the topic hence gaining in-depth information of the problem. The general inspector was even very kind enough to explain the various challenges they encounter during their inspection including the lack of personnel and blatant ignorance by the event sponsor to follow the different rules and regulations. Moreover, I learned that the general inspector strongly holds matters of security in his own heart. That is the reason he has taken various measures to ensure that every event sponsor complies with the necessary rule and regulation. Failure to adherence, the multiple agencies had instituted numerous fines to punish the offenders.
While undertaking the research, my aim as a researcher was to ensure that there was some level of validity and reliability with the findings from observing and interviewing the inspector general. I learned that there was a lot of consistency from what I have learned from the inspection in Barclays center and the interview. Through the information collected, I acquired that all the information was correct. The data collection process also enabled me to report on what I had learned. According to…reporting is not only the representation of facts, but it is seasoned with the researcher's comments and interpretations. The interview and the observation report itself helped me in providing a specific view of the topic also assisting others to learn from it.
The Barclay center community was quite interesting to study as it helped me get a deeper understanding of what it takes to host public events. Due to the increasing rates of crimes such as terrorism, I learned how the various agencies work to ensure that the safety of participants is compromised. The" Love Parade Music Festival "acted as an eye-opener to the government agencies where more than 30 and 500 people died and injured respectively because of a rout. The security measures such as many emergency exits, hosting a limited number of people and fire emergency alarms were to ensure that such a thing does not happen in future Shea, 2011).
In conclusion, the New York city has developed various measures including the TPA to ensure that more than 70 people who assemble in a place get the right authorization as well the proper security measures to prevent accidents and casualties in case of an emergency. The various data collection methods I used helped me a get a general understanding of the requirement and procedures involved in the issuance of TPAs. The visit to Barclay center during the inspection process was essential in helping me learn the various measures public events have instituted to safeguard the security of the people.
References
Gonchar, J.(2018). Barclays Center Architecture. (online) Available at http://architecturalrecord.com/articles/7549-barclays-centre
Fire Department Rules. (2015). Code Development Unit Bureau of Fire Prevention. Rules Of The Fire Department Of The City Of New York. http://wwwl.nyc.gov/assests/fdny/downloads/pdf/business/nyc-fire-code-guide.pdf
Misdemeanors charged in Happy Land Fire( Happy Land Social Club). (1991, February 02).The New York Times, p.27. www.nytimes.com/1991/02/02/nyregion/misdemeanors-charged
Murphy, J.(2018). When Fire Wins: Cause s of FDNY Deaths. City Limits. Retrieved 1 March 2018, from http://citylimits.org/2011/09/06/when-fire-wins-causes-of-fdny-deaths/
NYC Buisness.(2018). Temporary Place of Assembly Certificate of Operation(online) Available at http://wwwl.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/temporary-place-of assembly-certificate -of-operation
Shea, J.(2011). Identifying causes for certain types of electrically initiated fires in residential; circuits. Fire and Materials, 35(1), 19-42. http:dx.doi.org/10.1002/fam.1033
Temporary Place of Assembly Certificate of Operation-NYC Buiness.(2018).wwwl.nyc.gov.Retrieved on March 2018, from http://wwwwl.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/temporary - a place of assembly -certificate -of-operation
