FOCUS

On February 28th around 11am, I awoke to what sounded like gunshots. I searched
for my phone, then a loud bang ripped the air outside my door.

I jumped out of bed and ran out of my bedroom. I heard loud screams in the hallway. Through the peephole I could see my neighbors rushing down the stairs.

That's when I heard someone scream
“It's a fire, there's a fire”

I turned and my uncle told me calmly that we should leave. I grabbed my jacket and that’s when I remembered Cherry, my beloved cat. I searched the living room, then the bedroom. I found nothing and began to hyperventilate.

That’s when I noticed my bookbag lying on the floor. I picked it up and rushed back into the living room, found Cherry and shoved her into the bag along with two cans of cat food.

On the first floor the air was thick with clouds of dark gray smoke. An elderly man carrying a child was struggling to open the door. I rushed to open the door for him and then ran out onto the sidewalk with my cat.

To the right of me, I saw huge amounts of black smoke and a crowd of my neighbors. My cat, sensing my worry, was unusually calm. I crossed the street, and that's when I truly saw the gravity of the situation. With more distance, I could see that the deli and flower shop on the ground floor were engulfed in flames, which climbed up the side of my building.

⎯

THE AFTERMATH

⎯

A neighbor told me my building had 77 violations.

On New York City’s Housing, Preservation and Development website, I found that my building had 44 building charges and fees, 4 ligation cases, 29 complaints and 71 open violations.

Forty six of the open cases were reported after the fire occurred and one violation was for apartment 11, where my family resides. In other apartments, many with smashed and burned windows, conditions were judged to be imminently perilous to life, public safety and safety of occupants. They were ordered vacated immediately by the City of NY Department of Buildings.

From the inspection, it became clear that my five-story building had hazardous flaws, including mold and non-working smoke detectors.

For many tenants of 340 E. 151st street, the difficulties have continued long after the fire.

“Apart from the Red Cross, no one helped us with anything,” said Ruth Peña, who lived in apartment seven.

Peña and her husband are currently paying rent to a neighbor as they wait for their apartment to be repaired.

“We are sleeping on the floor,” she said, “and we are spending a lot of money on food–we have no place to cook and no refrigerator.”

I used to see the news about fires that were happening in the Bronx. Never have I thought that a fire would ever occur in my building, until it happened.

*Source: HPD Online: https://hpdonline.nyc.gov/hpdonline/

*Source: NYC Housing Preservation & Development, from the Services and Information Section for Tenants’ Rights and Responsibilities. Under NYC Administrative Code §27-2013: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/documents/NYC-Tenant-Bill-of-Rights.pdf