Editor’s Note: The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition. 

As Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson organized a reflective memorial ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 9, to honor the 17 people, including 8 children, mostly of Gambian descent, who lost their lives in one of the deadliest fires in New York City’s history, two years ago, we take a look back at the various legislative actions taken since the tragedy. The wreath-laying ceremony took place at Bronx Borough Hall on the second anniversary of the horrific Twin Parks fire which broke out in the Fordham Heights section of The Bronx on a fateful, cold Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, as snow lay on the roofs of cars and along the street.

 

“It`s been 2 years since the horrific fire at Twin Parks North West, and our borough continues to mourn,” the borough president said. “We  will never forget the 17 lives lost on this day, the families of those who were impacted by this tragedy, the bravery of our first responders, and the support from our city agencies, community organizations, colleagues in government, Hip-Hop artists, and others who showed up for our neighbors during our borough’s greatest time of need.”

 

Gibson, a Democrat, who was barely a week in elected office in her new role as borough president when the tragedy unfolded, added, “Twin Parks was a painful reminder of the work needed to invest in fire safety education and our city`s housing infrastructure so families are provided with safe and quality housing, and we prevent a tragedy of this magnitude from ever happening again.”

 

Last year, as reported, a floral tribute was arranged and memorial ceremony outside Twin Parks towers to mark the first anniversary of the tragic incident, and was attended by New York City Mayor Eric Adams. A street co-naming ceremony was also held the same day on the street in front of the Twin Parks building. The street was co-named “17 Abdoulie Touray Way” in honor of Abdoule Toura, described by New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams at the time as “a beloved father and Islamic community leader, who embodied the spirit of New York.”

The Democratic speaker said at the time, “Touray helped establish the resilient Gambian and West African community around Twin Parks, welcoming immigrants from his homeland and neighboring countries with accommodations and access to spiritual services. We join in honoring Touray’s legacy as part of today’s memorial.” ABC 7 News reported  that Touray was the first Gambian to move into the Twin Parks building and had “paved the way for the African community.”

 

The speaker added, at the time, “This past year, the Council passed critical legislation to improve fire safety regulations for all New Yorkers. The Twin Parks Citywide Taskforce on Fire Prevention will continue advancing legislative oversight to ensure the City is doing all it can to avert harm and injuries from preventable fires.”

 

District 15 City Councilmember Oswald Feliz, a Democrat, whose district includes the Twin Parks North West building, sponsored a package of bills aimed at improving fire safety regulations, including defining the term self-closing door and making modifications to local law 111, which requires that doors providing access to interior corridors or stairs be self-closing or equipped with devices to ensure closing after they are opened.

 

Later in 2022, a mural was unveiled in honor of the victims of Twin Parks in Charlotte Gardens. As part of this year’s ceremony, flags were flown at half-staff outside Bronx Borough Hall.

The fire at Twin Parks North West, built in 1972 and comprising 120 units is home to numerous public housing residents. It prompted a class action lawsuit against the building’s ownership group, Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC (BPP3LLP) et al, and The City of New York by various tenants. Fire officials said at the time the fire broke out that the 5-alarm blaze was sparked by a space heater which was inside the 19-floor building, located at 333 East 181st Street, and spread quickly due to issues with malfunctioning self-closing doors.

 

As reported at the time, FDNY unions held a public zoom call in the days that followed the deadly fire, led by Andrew Ansboro, president of Uniformed Firefighters Association and Lt. James McCarthy, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association of America.

 

Recalling the tragedy, Ansboro said, “I was called to the scene when I was alerted to the 5th alarm and the large number of people requiring medical attention. When I got on the scene, it was absolutely horrific. I talked to many veteran firefighters who said it was the worst fire they’d ever been in in their lives. They were doing CPR on people outside, getting them in ambulances; it was absolutely horrific.”

 

Meanwhile, McCarthy said at the time, “Two hundred firefighters responded to this incident, and they really operated above and beyond the call of duty. Fire on the second floor that extended to the third floor and the smoke went out throughout the building into the stairwell and [the smoke overcame] a lot of the residents, and they could not get out of the building.”

McCarthy added that as temperatures were getting colder in the evening, residents were finding different ways to heat their apartments and stay warm, and space heaters were often a problem due to what he said were open electrical connections or disrepair, causing fires.

 

“One of the biggest things that the fire department puts out in their public service announcements is to close the door to the apartment, and that was one of the problems here – that the residents exited the apartment, left the door open, and the fire extended out into the public hallway, and the stairwell, exposing everybody else in the building,” he said.

 

He added, “It’s a federal building… built with federal subsidies that didn’t have to adhere to New York City fire codes, so there was different fire protection in this building than we have in other tenements and other high rises in New York City, under the New York City code. So, it exposed members to a more dangerous atmosphere.”

 

During that call, it was also mentioned that it was believed there was no sprinkler system in the impacted building. According to congressional records, sprinklers in units of buildings pre-dating The Fire Administration Authorization Act of 1992, are not required under federal law.

 

The Fire Administration Authorization Act of 1992 amended The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to explicitly promote the use of automatic sprinklers and required the installation of fire sprinklers in all new government-owned high-rise buildings, including in applicable federally assisted residential buildings. The law did not, however, require that older buildings be retrofitted with fire sprinklers unless they were undergoing a substantial renovation.

 

Meanwhile, in terms of staffing on the day, Ansboro added, “48 Engine was first due [to arrive at the scene]. They normally have five firefighters working. Due to medical leave, department-wide, being high [as a result of COVID-19] they didn’t hire someone to work in that position, so there was one less person on that first engine company.”

 

Julie Bolcer from NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) told Norwood News on Jan. 11, 2022, “The cause of death [of all 17 victims] is smoke inhalation [and] the manner of death is accident.” In addition to those who died, at least 60 other people were injured according to City officials. Many were critical.

 

As reported, the fire led to a legislative push for more fire safety regulations at all government levels, including some mayoral resolutions. U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15), a Democrat, introduced a bill that authorizes the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) to conduct on-site fire safety investigations of major fires and other fires under other specified circumstances. The bill was signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden in December 2022, and received bipartisan support.

In April 2022 testimony to Congress, Gibson said at the time, “Every death at Twin Parks was caused by smoke inhalation; the fire itself was contained to the apartment it started in and the adjacent hallway. However, because the apartment door did not close behind the evacuating family, this enabled the smoke to rapidly spread throughout the building.”

 

Gibson asked Congress to pass two bills in the context of the tragedy. H.R. 6528, the “Housing Temperature Safety Act of 2022,” sponsored Torres, required the owner of a federally assisted rental dwelling unit to install temperature sensors in such units on each level of the unit. “Knowing what the temperatures are in a unit is the first step to ensuring that the heat levels are appropriate for the people who live there,” Gibson said. “For the City to take action against landlords who are keeping their tenants in the cold, grounding the complaints with a record of temperature history reported to HUD can help provide a basis for remediation and penalties.” The bill passed the House in July 2022.

 

The second bill was H.R. 6529, the “Twin Parks North West Fire Safety Act of 2022,” required owners of federally assisted rental dwelling units to install self-closing doors in such units, both apartment doors, as well as the doors to stairwells. Gibson said, “Though this is
already the law in New York City, adding a federal mandate will strengthen the enforcement of these policies, particularly when it comes to public housing and section 8 housing.” It is currently unclear if this bill became law or was merged with another bill. We are following up with the Office of Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) to clarify and will share any updates.

 

According to congressional records, “the rents of 91 housing units in Twin Parks North West were assisted with Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs), 15 of which were tenant-based vouchers administered by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the New York Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and 76 of which were project-based vouchers administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR).”

 

The record also cited that the FDNY identified malfunctioning self-closing doors as a key factor in the loss of life and significant building damage. According to then-New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro, “As [residents] left, they opened the door, and the door stayed open,” allowing smoke to travel throughout the building and creating deadly conditions.”

The April 2022 record continued, “HPD had issued at least two violation notices for faulty self-closing doors at the property in 2017 and 2019, but no self-closing door infractions had been issued to the high-rise since those violations were corrected. HPD conducts Federal Housing Quality Standards inspections at the development for the two apartment buildings that house families with HCVs, most recently in March 2021, but reports that no self-closing door violations were issued as a result of the most recent inspection.” It was noted that more than 22,000 self-closing door violation notices were issued throughout New York City for other properties in the 2021 fiscal year.

 

Gibson also asked Congress at the time to repackage the federal “Build Back Better Act” with housing provisions for additional funding for HUD, for repairs, preservation and an increase in the number of housing vouchers.

 

Norwood News contacted BPP3LLP, the City’s law department, and court administration officials for details of the status of the class action lawsuits. We did not receive an immediate response. We have since contacted defense counsel for the plaintiffs and will share any updates we receive.

 

NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD) confirmed to Norwood News last year that in the wake of the Twin Parks fire, all the resident households were given the opportunity to receive emergency shelter at a hotel, those who required help finding and securing new permanent housing were aided, and all families were offered Section 8 housing vouchers.

 

HPD said that as of October 2022, each of the households under its care had been moved out of temporary shelter at a hotel and into permanent housing. HPD officials said 92 families moved to La Central housing in South Bronx, 79 with Section 8 vouchers, six families moved to 425 Grand Concourse also in the South Bronx, all with Section 8 vouchers, 42 households remained residents at Twin Parks, and other households were able to secure permanent housing on their own.

When contacted for comment last year, after the first anniversary of the fire, BPP3LLP provided a statement to Norwood News on the actions taken in the wake of the tragedy.

 

“There is nothing more important than the safety of our residents,” the group said, in part, at the time. They added that throughout 2022, they had worked diligently with residents, local elected officials, and the Bronx community to rebuild and recover from the effects of the fire. “We have committed significant resources to building upgrades and improvements at Twin Parks North West, and will continue to work with our property management, social service, and relocation assistance teams to support and assist Twin Parks North West residents,” the group added at the time.

 

FDNY Fire Marshals later determined the cause of the fatal 5-alarm fire was “accidental” due to a “malfunctioning space heater.” They added that a “smoke alarm was present and operational.” FDNY officials offered the following advice regarding the use of space heaters:

•Be sure to keep your space heater at least 3 ft. from bedding, curtains and other materials.

•Avoid using electric space heaters in the bathroom or other areas where they may come in contact with water.

•Never use an extension cord with a space heater, and turn off/unplug the heater when you leave the room.

•Purchase a space heater with a thermostat and automatic shut-off, and make sure it includes the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Mark.

•The use of kerosene or propane space heaters is illegal in New York City, and the use of these types of space heaters poses a high risk of injury or death.

They also advised to always close doors when escaping a fire. See more tips at fdnysmart.org.

Meanwhile, the rise in the use of e-scooters and e-bikes powered by lithium-ion batteries has led to more fire safety concerns among New Yorkers as they have been found to have caused several fires in New York City in recent years. At home fire safety tips can be found at www.fdnysmart.org. The Office of the Bronx Borough President recently kicked off a new series of fire safety training sessions around the borough in conjunction with the FDNY.