In the wake of the Twin Parks fire tragedy in Fordham Heights on Sunday, Jan. 9, a tragedy that claimed the lives of 17 people, including 8 children, Felicia Galitsky remembered that years earlier she had passed a permanent roadside memorial erected in memory of other victims of a prior Bronx tragedy. The memory and image stuck with her and inspired her to arrange a similar, permanent tribute to the victims of the Twin Parks residential fire.

 

The chief of staff for Laundry Capital Co. LLC, parent company of Clean Rite Centers, told Norwood News, “What if, instead of a temporary roadside memorial or some consumable item like a laundry card that gets used, we could give some permanent way for people to remember their loved ones?”

 

In the days and weeks which followed the tragic fire at the Twin Parks North West towers, located at 333 East 181st Street, flowers, cards, photos, hand-written messages, and flags from Gambia, Mali and the U.S. had been pinned to a railing outside the site of the towers in tribute to those who lost their lives on that fateful day. During the weeks and months that followed, new fire safety and fire prevention legislation was announced in response to the incident. Yet as the flowers began to fade and die, it seemed to add even more poignancy to the tragedy as the event also appeared to begin to fade in people’s memories.

 

As reported, an outpouring of goodwill from both the local community and from residents across the City and country followed, with Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, District 15 City Council Member Oswald Feliz, District 14 City Council Member Pierina Sanchez, The Gambian Youth Organization, the Office of Assemblywoman, Yudelka Tapia, (A.D. 86) and many other organizations and individuals busy collecting donations to help the surviving victims of the fire.

 

Laundry Capital had already donated 150 laundry cards worth $50 each to Tapia’s office which survivors were able to use at any Clean Rite center location in New York City while they waited to be rehoused. Many didn’t want to return to the towers, so raw were their memories of the tragedy.

 

Galitsky decided to run the idea of a mural tribute by Neville Baptiste, regional manager for The Bronx Clean Rite Center. He immediately suggested they reach out to Tats Cru, a group of Bronx-based, professional muralists to work on the idea. Galitsky duly contacted Tats Cru in early February to commission a permanent mural in memory of the Twin Parks victims on one of the walls of the Clean Rite Center, located at 1348 Southern Boulevard in the Charlotte Gardens section of the borough.

 

On Saturday, April 16, the muralists unveiled the memorial to the public. Galitsky said it had taken two-months to complete because, among other things, the muralists had to request permission from the families of the victims to have their names appear on the mural, and also pick a day when the Bronx borough president would be available for the occasion of the unveiling. Some residents of Twin Parks North West, the Bronx Borough president, Clean Rite center management, and Tats Cru were duly in attendance on the day.

 

Although it took a couple of months to organize, muralist, Wilfredo “Bio” Feliciano, said it didn’t take Tats Cru very long to design the mural. He shared with Norwood News the thought process behind their latest work, as well as the challenges it presented.

 

“The initial idea was to do portraits of the victims,” Feliciano said. “We felt that was too heavy. I didn’t think people in the community would feel comfortable with so many people on the wall.” In the end, Tats Cru ended up listing the names on an image of the sky in one section of the mural. The following names appear on the mural: Sera Janneh, Seydou Toureh, Haowa Mahamadou, Issatou Jabbie, Haji Jawara, Haja Dukureh, Haji Dukureh, Mustapha Dukureh, Mariam Dukureh, Fatoumata Dukureh, Fatoumata Drammeh, Fatoumala Drammeh, Nyumaaisha Drammeh, and Ousmane Konteh.

 

The other reason the muralists decided to write the names of the victims as opposed to painting their portraits was because they said it would have been too difficult to fit all the victims into one mural. Another factor which the group grappled with was how to best go about honoring the victims. “How do you do something like this?” Feliciano asked. Ultimately, they thought the best way would be to write a simple message, “The Bronx Remembers.” Feliciano said they also included the flags of Gambia and Mali because most of the victims were from those two countries. He described the mural as being very bright and peaceful.

 

Jaylo Ynn, a professional artist in New York City, is very familiar with Tats Cru’s work. The artist considers Tats Cru’s latest mural to be further evidence of their excellence in the mural space. “I don’t expect nothing less,” Ynn said. “Tats Cru is number one in New York. Coming from me, that’s a huge compliment. They have been doing their thing for many years.”

 

Ynn also sees the impact the mural can have on the larger Bronx community. “It’s important because every day somebody is losing their life,” he said. “Instead of having all these vandals out here putting stuff on the wall, why not dedicate something to the masses that lived out here? The Bronx will never forget these people who paved the way, and had a purpose in the community.”

 

One member of the community who directly felt the impact of the latest mural was Adjaratou Demba, a resident at Twin Parks North West. She’s been living at the building for seven years and lost eight people on her floor on Jan. 9. “When I see it, I feel like I see the same day of the fire,” Demba said. “I can tell you that I see all of them in front of my face now. I know all of them. We spent all the time together.”

 

She recalled that she was neighbors with one of the families who died in the fire. “I used to see them every day, the kids running on the floor,” she said. “I keep thinking about all of that.” As someone who experienced the Twin Parks fire firsthand, she said Tats Cru’s mural brought up a lot of emotions. “The mural touched us,” Demba said. “We feel it deeply. I lost two boys from Mali, my friends’ sons.”

 

Now that Tats Cru’s mural is displayed for all to see, Galitsky is optimistic that this will be a turning point for news coverage on The Bronx. “The feel-good stories aren’t really as newsworthy,” Galitsky said. “Hopefully this is something that is and shows that in tough times the community really does come together and supports one another, and hopefully this can be something that can be the stepping-stone for more positive news about The Bronx.”

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.