Adams signs executive order beefi ng up fi re safety inspections
10
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, MARCH 25-31, 2022 BXR
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
Hoping to prevent largescale
apartment fi res like the
one on Jan. 9 at the Twin Parks
North West high-rise in Fordham
Heights, Mayor Eric Adams
signed an executive order Sunday
that looks to increase coordination
between fi re offi cials and the
city Department of Housing Preservation
and Development (HPD)
inspectors to identify fi re safety
violations earlier.
The March 20 executive order
mandates that HPD inspectors
look for fi re safety compliance and
report lack of fi re safety signage to
the FNDY, in addition to providing
the department with all fi re safety
violations since January 2021, facilitating
more FDNY inspections
for buildings with high violations.
At the time of the Twin Parks
fi re that killed 17 and displaced
more than 100 families, the
52-year-old building had been
fl agged with 18 open violations,
and 174 total violations since new
ownership Bronx Park Phase III
Preservation LLC took over in
2020, records fi led with the city
HPD show.
A year before the fi re, a fi re
safety inspection was scheduled
for Twin Parks to inspect the highrise’s
standpipe system, but fi re offi
cials assigned to the inspection
were diverted to a COVID task
force to ensure restaurants followed
pandemic guidelines, Oren
Barzilay, president of fi re union
Local 2507, revealed at a recent
hearing before the New York City
Council Committee on Fire and
Emergency Management.
“We must work towards equipping
every New Yorker and every
building in this city with the tools
to avoid an unspeakable tragedy
like the one we saw two months
ago,” said Adams in a statement.
“As we continue providing critical
support for the families affected
by the fi re, we are working
closely with Borough President
(Vanessa) Gibson, Councilmember
(Oswald) Feliz, and our partners
across and beyond government
to fi x this problem
upstream. Today’s actions are an
essential step towards the goal of
preventing this kind of tragedy
from ever occurring again.”
The FDNY and HPD will also
be responsible for conducting an
educational fi re safety outreach
campaign, including education
related to smoke detectors and
self-closing doors, the latter of
which malfunctioned at Twin
Parks causing smoke to spread
quickly throughout the building,
fi re offi cials said.
Additionally, the city said it
will work with the City Council to
enact a slew of fi re safety proposals,
including sprinkler system
legislation and legislation that
increases fi nes for landlords who
falsely report curing a self-closing
door violation.
“We are turning our pain into
purpose and making sure we protect
future New Yorkers,” said
Bronx Borough President Vanessa
Gibson. “(This) executive
order strengthening fi re safety
enforcement and outreach is a
proactive step that will save lives
and help ensure we do not have a
repeat of what occurred in January
at Twin Parks. I want to thank
Mayor Adams, FDNY, and HPD,
as well as our partners on the federal
level and the Fire Safety Task
Force, for their collaboration on
this important issue. Interagency
communication is key in preventing
the next tragic fi re from occurring
in our city.”
FDNY respond to a 5-alarm fi re in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx on Sunday, Jan. 9. The massive blaze claimed the lives of 17.
Photo | Lloyd Mitchell
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