I-Team: Complaints about fire door and heat persist a year after 17 people die in Bronx Inferno

After 17 people died in hell in the Bronx 12 months agofire investigators blamed the heater and broken fire doors.

Residents on the third floor of 333 East 181st Street, known as Twin Parks North West, were trying to keep warm when the heater ignited the fire. If the door of their apartment were to close automatically, as it should have, the only way for the deadly smoke to enter was their apartment.

But the door remained open, and smoke rose up the public staircase as if from a chimney, choking on the inhabitants on floors far from real fire.

After the tragedy, city housing inspectors began to pay more attention to fire safety, especially self-closing doors. In 2022, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development reports that it issued 37,917 violations for broken fire doors. This is 52 percent more than in 2021.

Hidden within these thousands of violations are several fines for faulty fire doors issued to seven buildings wholly or partly owned by the same investors as the Twin Parks high-rise building. In the twelve months after the deadly fire, the City issued at least 40 violation notices for faulty self-closing doors in those seven buildings, including twenty-seven problematic doors at 355 East 184th Street, according to inspection reports.

Zelma McNeil, a longtime tenant at 355 East 184th Street, said she’s worried about fines for broken fire doors and temperatures that sometimes drop so low in her home that she feels the need to use heaters to keep warm.

“We are being told not to use our ovens or stoves. Do not use heaters. If we don’t, we will freeze,” McNeil said.

Since the deadly fire last January, there have been at least 100 complaints about cold apartments from residents in the buildings that co-own the Twin Parks Tower, according to HPD reports.

James Yolles, a spokesman for Camber Property Group, one of Twin Parks’ investors, said complaints about the heat and self-closing doors are being addressed immediately by property owners.

“Any building in New York City that is over 40 years old requires constant maintenance and vigilance, and all of our facilities are equipped with multiple computerized temperature sensors throughout the building,” Yolles said.

Yolles stressed that only 13 of the 40 fire door violations issued to Twin Parks owners are still open violations.

“We are constantly monitoring our heating systems and self-closing doors and strongly encourage any residents experiencing any issues to report them to management immediately,” Yolles said.

Last year, Rep. Richie Torres (D-Bronx), representing the area where the fatal fire occurred, sponsored and passed legislation that would allow the Federal Fire Administration to help local fire departments investigate major fires. Torres says he now plans to push forward a bill that would tighten federal rental assistance rules.

“I’m pushing for legislation that would allow the city to revoke Section 8 support for homeowners who don’t follow fire codes,” Torres said. “You have to hit them where it hurts, which is the pocket.”

One year after the Twin Parks building fire due to a heater. Marc Santia reports.

According to a recent report from the New York City Comptroller’s Office, 1,077 New York City buildings constantly complain about the lack of heat. Most of them are in communities of color. In this report, HPD called for stronger enforcement.

Adolfo Carrión Jr., the city’s police commissioner, said enforcement has intensified.

“As a city, we are implementing new laws and measures to better keep New Yorkers safe from the spread of deadly smoke and fire, including stronger enforcement and education around self-closing doors and heater safety,” Carrion said.

Last year, Governor Hochul signed a bill that would require heaters sold in the state to have an automatic shutoff.

Maimouna Silla, who lost two of her cousins ​​when they died in the Twin Parks fire, said investors holding shares in the building and several other developments should reassess their priorities.

“They’re investing in these buildings, so they really have to think, ‘Is my money going to something good?'” Silla said. really invest in it?”