A makeshift memorial erected during a candlelight vigil held in January
for the victims of the Fordham Heights fi re. Photo | Adrian Childress
Reps. Clarke, Torres introduce federal legislation on space heaters
Property owners of Twin Parks North West are now facing four separate lawsuits over the
Jan. 9 fi re that killed 17. Photo Lloyd Mitchell
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F BTR FEB. 11-17, 2022 29
BY STEPHEN WITT
U.S. Reps. Yvette D. Clarke (DBrooklyn)
and Ritchie Torres (DBronx)
on Feb. 4 introduced federal
legislation to address manufacturing
issues with space heaters.
The “Safer Heat Act” (H.R. 6615)
comes as a result of the recent Twin
Parks NW apartment building fi re
that took the lives of 17 New Yorkers.
It is part of a federal legislative package
aimed at solving the underlying
issues that caused the deadly fi re and
preventing future tragedies.
The legislation would require
space heaters to have an automatic
shutoff and to require the Commission
on Consumer Product Safety to establish
mandatory safety standards for
the manufacturing of space heaters.
“Only weeks ago, tragedy struck
the heart of the Bronx when a defective
space heater led to a fi re that killed 17
members of our New York family and
seriously injured dozens more. This
horrible incident, like so many others
caused by space heaters every year,
could have been prevented if proper
safety standards had simply been put
in place,” said Clarke. “Unfortunately,
the current standards around space
heaters are only voluntary guidelines
that manufacturers can choose to ignore.
This must be changed. Our Safer
Heat Act will ensure that commonsense
safety standards are a requirement,
not a recommendation so that
we can keep our families safe and prevent
these tragic fi res from happening
again.”
“It is no accident that the four worst
fi res in New York City’s history in the
last thirty years have all been in the
Bronx. The tragedy at Twin Parks
North West only underscores that we
must take federal action to ensure tenants
have safe and affordable homes
no matter their zip code,” said Torres.
Torres said current law requirements
often fall short of what tenants
need to remain warm in their homes.
The feeling of freezing in apartments
causes tenants to resort to space heaters
out of sheer desperation, he said.
“This legislation aims to address
the defi ciencies in space heater manufacturing
and require an automatic
shutoff. These cautionary measures
would help prevent another fi re from
devastating communities and help residents
feel safe in their homes,” said
Torres.
The “Safer Heat Act” is part of an
initial package of federal legislation
that will tackle the root causes of the
fi re including self-closing doors and
compliance with fi re codes. This included:
The Twin Parks North West Fire
Safety Act of 2022 (H.R. 6529): This
proposed federal law requires federally
funded or regulated multi-family
developments to have self-closing
doors (on apartment units, stairwells,
etc.) and requiring owners and operators
to inspect and certify that the
doors are properly functioning and
self-closing.
The Housing Temperature Safety
Act of 2022 (H.R. 6528): This proposed
measure would make a federal law
requiring the installation of heat
sensors in all federally funded or
regulated multi-family housing developments.
U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD),
as well as the state and local housing
administrator, shall receive realtime
reports that fl ag when the level of
heating in a unit is out of compliance
with housing inspections.
The package also includes a federal
law clarifying that federally funded
or regulated multi-family housing
developments are required to comply
with state and local building, fi re, and
housing codes, and the creation of a
publicly available database to easily
search housing inspections required
by HUD.
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
A fourth lawsuit stemming
from the tragic Twin Parks
North West apartment fi re
that killed 17 people in the
Fordham Heights section of
the Bronx last month has been
fi led by prominent civil rights
attorney Ben Crump on Tuesday.
The suit alleges that the
negligence of building owners
in failing to ensure the
building was compliant with
health and safety codes led
to the disastrous outcomes of
Jan 9. The lawsuit is on the
behalf of Mahamadou Hassimi
and Safi etou Bocoum,
whose son and daughter perished
in the fi re; Fatoumata
Sankanu whose two-year-old
son was attending daycare
in the building when he perished
in the fi re; the Janneh
family who lost their 27-yearold
daughter, Sera, and have
three additional family members
who were hospitalized
with injuries; and Diariato
Isabel Drame, a 20-year-old
mother from Angola, whose
three-month-old son was hospitalized
with injuries.
Crump said the violation of
safety rules caused “unspeakable
loss of life” and injury to
the victims.
Crump, who has been involved
in high-profi le cases
— providing legal assistance
to the families of Ahmaud
Arbery, Breonna Taylor,
George Floyd and Jacob
Blake, the people poisoned
during the Flint water crisis,
and the plaintiffs behind
the 2019 Johnson & Johnson
baby powder lawsuit that alleged
the company’s talcum
powder product led to ovarian
cancer diagnoses — said
he could not allow corporations
to put profi ts over
safety.
“There is no greater tragedy
than parents having to
grieve for their children.
While we can’t bring them
back, we can help their families
get answers to why and
how this happened. Justice
in this case is holding those
responsible accountable and
ensuring that no community
has to suffer a loss like
this again,” he said in a statement.
“This building was
home to a very close-knit
community in pursuit of the
American dream when their
world was devastated by this
preventable tragedy. We are
determined to get them the
justice they deserve.”
In addition to Ben Crump
Law, plaintiffs are also being
represented by personal injury
fi rm Weitz & Luxenberg,
and the team is looking for
people affected by the fi re to
contact them for compensation.
The lawsuit does not specify
any monetary damages
being sought, nor does it
mention any specifi c safety
violations.
Property owners of the
Twin Parks North West complex
Bronx Park Phase III
Preservation LLC, are now
defendants in four lawsuits,
including a $3 billion class
action lawsuit.
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 tenantorganizing
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.
The Jan, 9 fi re, which required
the response of 200
fi refi ghters and emergency
personnel, was caused by a
space heater that had been
left on for far too long, fi re
offi cials say. However, various
tenants have stated that
the building owners did not
address a backlog of residential
concerns including but
not limited to, lack of heat,
lack of hot water, and poor
qualitative conditions in the
building which led to common
usage of space heaters
throughout the complex.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump
spearheads 4th Bronx fi re lawsuit