Deadly Belmont Fire Points to Illegal Housing Dangers; City Launches Crackdown

Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in the May edition of the Tremont Tribune.

A fire at 2321 Prospect Ave. killed
three people in April (Photo by David Greene)

Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council announced yesterday that the city will be taking a new, more aggressive approach in identifying and inspecting apartment buildings suspected of being divided illegally.

At the end of April, a fire tore through an apartment building in Belmont and killed three family members who had been living there--Christina Garcia, 43, Juan Lopez, 36, and their 12-year-old son Christian Garcia.

The early morning blaze broke out on the top floor of a multi-family building at 2321 Prospect Ave., a space that had been subdivided into several rooms using partitions, according to FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer.

The tragedy has shined a spotlight on the proliferation of dangerous housing conditions in the Bronx, and across the city. Experts and elected officials say practices like illegal divisions, erected by both tenants and landlords alike, are frighteningly common and growing in number.

Sally Dunford, of the West Bronx Housing and Neighborhood Resource Center, called the problem “endemic.”

She described some of what she’s seen in the community in recent years: already small apartments portioned off into even smaller ones, blocking access to the fire escape or stationed dangerously close to the building’s heating source; five people living in a basement with no bathroom or kitchen; an elderly couple living in a closet; tenants moving back into a property immediately after the city ordered them to vacate.

“It’s just scary,” Dunford said.

History Detectives Come to the Bronx

Tonight, after those of you with cable tune into to BronxTalk, move the digital dial over to 13.1 for History Detectives. The PBS show will, among other things, investigate the birth of hip hop at 1520 Sedgwick Ave.

For those of you not familiar with the show:

History Detectives is devoted to exploring the complexities of historical mysteries, searching out the facts, myths and conundrums that connect local folklore, family legends and interesting objects.

Traditional investigative techniques, modern technologies, and plenty of legwork are the tools the History Detectives team of experts uses to give new - and sometimes shocking - insights into our national history.

The Bronx African American History Project and Dr. Mark Naison of Fordham University will be featured in the segment. Here are the details:

BIRTHPLACE OF HIP HOP
AIRING: Season 6, Episode 11
THE DETECTIVE: Tukufu Zuberi
THE PLACE: New York City
THE CASE:

A hip hop enthusiast from New York City has always heard that 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx is the birthplace of hip hop.

The story goes that on August 11, 1973 DJ Kool Herc, a building resident, was entertaining at his sister’s back-to-school party, and tried something new on the turntable: he extended an instrumental beat (breaking or scratching) to let people dance longer (break dancing) and began MC’ing (rapping) during the extended
breakdancing.

This, the contributor believes, marked the birth of hip hop. The music led to an entire cultural movement that’s altered generational thinking – from politics and race to art and language.

History Detectives sets out to examine an inner city environment that helped lay the foundation for a cultural revolution.

More on 1520 Sedgwick here.

Also, check out Manny Fernandez's piece in the Sunday Times about illegally partitioned apartments in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. With the affordability crisis and the economic downturn/implosion following the burst of the housing/credit bubble, dividing up apartments and subletting rooms isn't about to go away anytime soon -- often with deadly consequences.

Housing Struggles Continue in the Bronx

Even as many in the Bronx celebrate the inauguration of the Barack Obama as our 44th President, tenants across the borough are struggling. At 808 E 175th Street, yournabe.com reports how Con Edison shut off common area electricity and the boiler room earlier this month, leaving tenants to walk in the dark to their freezing apartments. A former predatory equity building owned by OCG VII (a subsidiary of Ocelot), the City had threatened to have a court-appointed administrator take over the building in October. Ocelot, in response, sold the property and the deadline for the new owner, DDF Bronx Portfolio LLC, to fix the many C class violations is fast approaching. Meanwhile, the City has restored heat and power to the building.

Patrice O'Shaughnessy also takes an in-depth look at the housing affordability crisis that led to the illegally partitioned walls in the building where two fire-fighters perished four years ago.

Back when Arias moved in, rents in that area were still within reach for the working poor. But in the last three or four years, people have been forced to leave their neighborhoods because their rents have almost doubled. A rent of $1,500 to $2,000 for a large apartment in low-income neighborhoods is no longer rare.

Just look at this building, which is owned by 234 E. 178th St. LLC, out of an office on Lydig Ave. It was valued at $369,000 on Jan. 15, 2005, a week before the fire. On Jan. 15, 2007, the value had jumped to $2,030,000. It's a reflection of how building values in low-income neighborhoods are skyrocketing, and affordable housing for the working poor is shrinking. It has led to families doubling up, illegal subdivisions,
overcrowding.

In 2008 the Department of Buildings issued 838 violations for illegal conversions on 688 properties, up from 701 violations on 641 properties in 2005.

Bronx political leaders and someone from the mayor's office should be at this trial. They would hear how poor people find a place to live these days.

Arias never got a receipt for her rent payments. She testified that she never received mail at the building. She was undocumented by Con Edison, by city agencies.

Thousands of people are virtually invisible. We find out about them when there is a tragedy.

So while Bronxites rejoice in the history made today, the everyday struggles continue for many in our borough.

Bronx News Roundup Part Deux, Jan. 14th

As WNYC reporter Cindy Rodriguez reports, illegal housing, like that which allegedly caused the 2005 deaths of two firefighters in the Bronx, remains a problem in the city. Her report is available below.


Bronx Zoo Layoffs? Maybe. Elizabeth Benjamin has the scoop at the Daily Politics. In response to the possible cuts the Wildlife Conservation Society, the people behind the zoo, released this video protesting any future funding reductions:

To sign the online petition, go here.