Act for Housing Justice in the Bronx

Eric Adams (Mayor), Oswald Feliz (District 15 Councilman), Melanie E. La Rocca (Commissioner of NYC Dep't of Buildings), Adrienne Adams (City Council Chair), NYC City Council

On January 9, 2022, a horrible fire swept through the Twin Parks North West high-rise apartment building in the Bronx, causing mass panic and trauma, destroying the building, and killing 17 people, including eight children.

This catastrophe was eminently preventable. As architectural workers, we understand the policies and broken laws that lead to these tragedies and have ideas on what needs to change. The Architecture Lobby-NYC is building people power with this petition, seeking the support of architectural workers, community members, and concerned citizens of New York

Safe, decent, affordable housing is included in the United Nations charter of human rights. The residents of Twin Parks North West, and so many other residents in the city and anywhere rent is paid, should not live under life-threatening conditions. As a city and a community, we need to make sure this never happens again.

The Architecture Lobby-NYC intends to present the signed petition to the NYC City Council whose members are currently considering new legislation in the wake of the January 9th fire.
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To: Eric Adams (Mayor), Oswald Feliz (District 15 Councilman), Melanie E. La Rocca (Commissioner of NYC Dep't of Buildings), Adrienne Adams (City Council Chair), NYC City Council
From: [Your Name]

On January 9, 2022, a horrible fire swept through the Twin Parks North West high-rise apartment building in the Bronx, causing mass panic and trauma, destroying the building, and killing 17 people, including eight children.

The Architecture Lobby New York City chapter extends our deepest sympathies to the families and condemns this tragedy not as an accident but as an inevitable consequence of how working-class people are abused in a system that puts profits before people.

This catastrophe was eminently preventable. The space heater that caught fire wouldn’t have been necessary if the owners had provided adequate heat as required by law. Closing the door wouldn’t have been necessary if the owners had provided functional self-closing doors as required by law. More tenants would have been alerted to the fire if the owners had provided a functional fire alarm system, rather than one sounding false alarms at all hours of the day. The smoke wouldn’t have traveled up the stairhall if the owners had chosen to install a pressurized stairwell system which would have saved lives.

But they didn’t. They didn’t despite repeated inspections and cited violations. They didn’t because it was cheaper not to. Cheaper to put human life at risk than provide the decent, safe living conditions the tenants are entitled to legally, and morally as human beings. As architects and design workers, we know all too well where the money in real estate really goes. It doesn’t go to providing safety, since there’s no return on that “investment”. It goes to buildings that generate more profit. Gentrification and the deepening housing crisis give renters few options for finding safer housing. As design professionals, we know that as long as profit-based priorities dominate the built environment, people’s lives will be at risk, especially people of color, immigrants, and marginalized communities.

The Architecture Lobby New York City chapter condemns the fire at Twin Parks North West as a criminal act. We call for:

-The owners of the building to be criminally prosecuted;

-Mayor Adams needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms for his callous remarks blaming the victims, and leaving his real estate friends off the hook;

-The City needs to take immediate steps to hire more building inspectors;

-The City needs to step up and speed up the penalties and criminal prosecution for landlords with long-standing building violations;

-The victims should be relocated to viable apartments, at the owners’ expense;

-The City should repair this building, and all such buildings with safety violations, and seek remuneration from the owners.

Safe, decent, affordable housing is included in the United Nations charter of human rights. The residents of Twin Parks North West, and so many other residents in the city and anywhere rent is paid, should not live under life-threatening conditions. As a city and a community, we need to make sure this never happens again.

The City should repair this building, and all such buildings with safety violations, and seek remuneration from the owners.

Sincerely, the undersigned,