BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA 
 A Gambian woman who  
 survived last Sunday’s Fordham  
 Heights apartment  
 building fi re  that  claimed  
 the lives of 17 people is suing  
 building owners for $500 million, 
   alleging  that  property  
 owners allowed people to live  
 in the complex despite unsafe  
 conditions, according to a  
 lawsuit fi led Wednesday. 
 According to a lengthy  
 96-page complaint, the Gambian 
 born claimant Hullamatou  
 Ceesay alleges that the  
 building owners — Bronx  
 Park  Phase  III  Preservation  
 LLC, which is a development  
 consortium  of  The  Camber  
 Property Group, Belveron  
 Partners and the LIHC Group  
 — failed to fi reproof the premises  
 of the Twins Parks North  
 West and also denied requests  
 from  residents  to  fi reproof  
 their  individual  apartment  
 complexes.    Ceesay  did  suffer  
 injuries from the fi re, the  
 extent to which, was not detailed  
 in the docket. 
 Ceesay’s  lawsuit,  which  
 was fi led in Bronx Supreme  
 Court, is the second separate  
 lawsuit  fi led against property  
 owners  this  week.  The  
 fi rst lawsuit, which was fi led  
 on Tuesday by two other tenants, 
  alleges the owners did  
 not address “actual notice of  
 defective conditions” in the  
 high-rise building, and that  
 resulted  in a malfunctioning  
 self-closing  door  that  fi re  offi  
 cials say exacerbated the  
 spread of the fi re. 
 The  lead plaintiffs  in  that  
 case, husband and wife Rosa  
 Reyes and Felix Martinez,  
 are seeking $1 billion and  
 compensatory  damages  for  
 alleged negligence and another  
 $2 billion in punitive  
 damages  on  behalf  of  themselves  
 and others affected by  
 the fi re. 
 Throughout its 123 building  
 portfolio, Bronx Park  
 Phase  III  Preservation  LLC  
 has a total of 11,801 residential  
 units, but within just the  
 last three years had received  
 2,468 heat and hot water complaints  
 submitted to the city’s  
 311 service, according to  
 NYC-based  tenant-organizing  
 Accepted Students Night 
 Why Preston? 
 BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 10     JAN. 21-27, 2022 BTR 
 service JustFix NYC. Before  
 the Jan. 9 fi re, there were  
 18  open  violations  against  
 the property, with 174 total  
 violations  levied  since  new  
 ownership  took  over  in  2020,  
 records fi led with the city Department  
 of  Housing    Preservation  
 and Development  
 show. 
 While some tenants are  
 taking legal recourse against  
 building owners, for other  
 tenants it was time for somber  
 goodbyes. 
 On Wednesday, the fi rst of  
 many  planned  communal  funerals  
 commemorating the  
 17  lives  that  perished  in  the  
 fi re, was held at the Islamic  
 Cultural Center. The fi rst  funeral  
 honored young victims,  
 Seydou Torre, 12, and Haouwa  
 Mahamadou, 5. 
 Toure was an eighth-grade  
 student at the Angelo Patri  
 Middle School, which was  
 next  door  to  the  Twin  Parks  
 building, and Mahamadou  
 was one of at least four siblings  
 caught in the blaze, according  
 to an online fundraising  
 page set up by her aunt,  
 Family,  friends  and  community  members  gather  at  a  candlelight  vigil  
 held on Jan. 11  to remember the 17 victims who perished in the Fordham  
 Heights fi re.  Photo | Adrian Childress 
 Khadidja Timbaye. 
 Two other Mahamadou  
 children were treated in critical  
 condition, Timbaye wrote. 
 According to the medical  
 examiner, all 17 victims died  
 of smoke inhalation. Fire offi  
 cials say a malfunctioning  
 space heater that had been left  
 on for days sparked the fi re. 
 The  remaining  15  victims  
 — all with connections to  
 The Gambia — are expected  
 to  have  funerals  held  in  the  
 coming  days,  community  
 leaders told the Bronx Times  
 on Friday. Islamic tradition  
 includes the cleansing and  
 wrapping  of  the  deceased,  a  
 process that began on Thursday  
 when bodies were sent to  
 a Queens funeral home. This  
 proceess  consists  of  ghusl,  a  
 ritual washing of dead bodies, 
   kafan,  or  shrouding  the  
 body with pieces of cloth, and  
 fi nally salat al-janazah, a funeral  
 prayer. 
 Second suit seeks $500M from  
 Fordham Heights landlords 
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