Another fire tragedy appears poised to erupt just blocks from the Bronx building where 17 people perished in a January inferno caused by a faulty space heater.
Residents at a nearby affordable housing building on Nelson Avenue in Morris Heights have gone 16 months without gas in their apartments, leading tenants to use dangerous hot plates and other devices to feed their families in units they say are crumbling.
The building, run by Alliance Property Management & Development — and subsidized by hefty tax exemptions and taxpayer subsidies — is about 10 blocks from the East 181st Street high-rise in Tremont where scores died, including eight children, in the blaze earlier this year.
Residents at the Nelson Avenue building are now concerned they could suffer a similar fate from everyone’s use of hot plates to cope with the lack of gas — a situation that has been responsible for a slew of fatal Big Apple blazes, including the March 2015 conflagration in Brooklyn that killed seven kids.
“It’s a fire hazard,” said the daughter of Martha Henry, a 93-year-old Nelson Avenue resident, who’s been staying at the building to help out her ailing mother.
“You pay rent, you should get gas,” said the woman, who identified herself only as Ms. Henry. “We are still waiting for an answer. We don’t know what’s the holdup. We just want gas. What’s so hard in that?”
Building’s checkered past
The building, located at 1715 Nelson Ave., has been issued at least 28 code violations — 27 of which have been classified as “immediately hazardous” by the city, according to records obtained by The Post. The violations were issued by the Department of Buildings, Housing Preservation and Development and the FDNY, records show.
The property is accused of failing to provide kitchen gas, having a faulty boiler, installing gas lines without permits, setting up illegal highly flammable propane tanks, having no sprinkler system and removing fire exits on all six floors, according to the records.
Only one of the 28 violations — involving a propane tank — has been rectified to date, records show.
Alliance is facing nearly $7,000 in fines from the DOB and an unknown amount in penalties from the HPD and FDNY.
The violations have led to at least one tenant, who receives a Section 8 voucher, being at risk of losing their apartment because the infractions violate the federal Housing Quality Standards, a letter sent to the resident states.
“I will be out on the streets. I’m going to be homeless on July 22,” said the resident, Frances Malcolm, 68, sobbing to The Post as she added that she’s been in her home for 28 years.
“I have no place to go.”
Others who live at the building, many of whom are struggling families with children, say they’ve had enough.
“It’s over a year now that I have no gas, and I am tired. I have three young kids,” said Ousman Touray, 35, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment with his wife and children ages 1, 4 and 7.
“Sometimes I use an electric cooker, but the electric bill is very high,” Touray said. “I stop paying the bill so I can feed my family. I cannot pay the rent, high electric bill and buy food at the same time.”
Not only are the hot plates a fire risk, residents say, it can take hours to cook a proper meal on their small makeshift stoves and the electricity costs add up, forcing many to rely on fast food to feed themselves and their families.
“I am very frustrated and angry. It’s very wrong. It’s hard,” Touray said. “We are suffering. I can’t afford to move. I don’t have the money. Right now, I don’t know what to do. … We need our gas back.”
Striking back
Tenants interviewed by The Post said the building has fallen into disrepair under the management company took over, and a number of residents have gone on a rent strike because of the dilapidated and dangerous conditions.
Annie Toler, 69, who has lived in the building for 51 years, keeps a “RENT STRIKE” sign posted to her door.
“You start cooking at 9 in the morning to get finished by 5 … I’m sick of it,” she said.
“I got them in court. I’m not paying rent until they do something. What’s the sense of paying rent and you ain’t getting no service? In New York City, you are supposed to get gas, heat and hot water.”
Marquis Hunt, 37, lives on the top floor with his wife and 10-year-old daughter who has autism. He said his child has been injured numerous times from raised floor tiles in the apartment that Alliance has refused to fix.
“Two or three times, she cut the bottom of her feet,” said Hunt, who is also on a rent strike. “Her safety is our concern. We all should be safe in our homes.
“We live on the top floor. When it rains, we have to put buckets on top of the entertainment center to catch the water,” he added. “The water gets into the electrical wires in the entertainment center. We have to unplug it and take the wires out because I’m afraid of being electrocuted. My wife constantly calls, but nobody comes.”
Hunt added that his daughter is a “picky eater” who will only eat junk food from the frozen aisle, such as pizza rolls and chicken tenders, now that her mom can’t cook for her.
“We have to make her dinner, then our dinner. My wife works 12 hours a day, if I work overtime, I come home later,” Hunt said. “My dad is 82, he has cancer. My mom is in a wheelchair. They are sickly. I have to go over and help them out. Who has time to cook on a hot plate?”
Management company’s stance
Three months after gas was shut off at the property, Alliance offered residents a $40 voucher to purchase hot plates and a $25 monthly rent credit to help cover their costly electricity bills.
Since then, the company has sent a series of letters repeatedly promising to rectify the gas issue but said resident complaints to the DOB and the rent strikes are preventing them from getting the work done.
In one letter, Alliance griped about needing funding from HPD, which subsidizes the building, and said the complaints and rent strikes can impact their loan application.
If the complaints and rent strikes continue, Alliance threatened that heat and hot water, common area lighting, elevator repairs and a slew of other required maintenance could be cut off, the letter says.
“It is evident that some residents are committed to having the [building] receive more violations to impede and/or delay the restoration of the natural gas service to the detriment of all … residents,” the letter states.
A rep for the DOB told The Post that the agency has not yet received an application from Alliance to repair the gas system in the building and that the DOB-issued violations “are not preventing” the owners from getting necessary permits and restoring gas service.
A representative for the HPD said, “We’ve issued violations for failure to provide an adequate supply of kitchen gas, and we are actively working with the cooperative board and property manager to secure a loan to properly restore service to their residents as safely and quickly as possible.
“Protecting the health and safety of all New York City residents remains our top priority.
“We will continue to uphold the city’s housing maintenance code if the conditions go unaddressed.”
Local law shows that it is Alliance’s sole responsibility to maintain the property, stay up to code and correct hazardous conditions. Violations for failing to fix such hazards is not an excuse to delay necessary repairs, city regulations state.
On May 3, Alliance sent another letter to tenants stating gas line testing “will resume relatively soon.
“We’ll provide more information as it becomes available,” the letter read.
To the tenants interviewed by The Post, the missive was yet another empty promise.
“They have to find a solution, they have to do something,” Touray said.
“I cannot take it anymore.”
The management company didn’t return a request for comment from The Post.
