Victims in Queens take legal action against building owners

Just a few days before Christmas, a level five fire raged in a residential building in Sunnyside.

Six months later, the displaced residents are still not allowed to enter the building.

“I just took my bag and thought I would be back in an hour,” said displaced resident Ruth Santiago.

Santiago has lived in the rent-controlled complex for 30 years. Her mother and brother also lived in the building.

“I thought it might be a small problem, but when we left the building and saw how large the smoke area was, we realized it was a much bigger problem than we expected,” she said.

Santiago, along with other homeless residents and elected officials from Queens, held a rally outside the building on Wednesday to demand that the building’s landlord, A&E Real Estate, renew the temporary lease with the nearly 30 families who had taken him in.

The lease expires on Tuesday.

According to the New York Fire Department, the fire broke out after a contractor used an illegal blowtorch to remove lead paint from a sixth-floor door.

“We became homeless on December 20th through no fault of our own. The negligence of the emergency department caused a major fire in our building. 28 families had to live in emergency shelters and are now facing eviction because he refuses to renew their temporary leases,” said homeless resident Melissa Orlando.

Residents said the emergency department had not taken adequate steps to repair the building or provide stable housing solutions and had therefore now taken legal action.

“As a result, my firm filed a 46-page lawsuit against A&E this afternoon alleging, among other things, gross negligence, negligent breach of contract, breach of warranty of habitability and breach of quiet enjoyment,” said attorney Brett Gallaway.

In a statement, a spokesperson for A&E Real Estate said, among other things: “We have made steady progress in stabilizing the building, but the damage was severe and there are no quick fixes here. We have been open with residents about these challenges and explained that the emergency hotel accommodation and affordable housing we provided after the fire was a temporary solution to give everyone breathing room while they made longer-term plans.”

According to the Department of Construction, an order from the Department of Construction in April required the engineer in charge to submit weekly progress reports and a repair plan to the department by April 29.

The department said it had received progress reports, but no repair plan was provided. The engineer was given a misdemeanor for failing to comply with the order.

Santiago said she and her family did not accept the temporary lease and would be moving to a more permanent location, but she said the work needed to be done quickly so she could finally return to the place she calls home.

“We couldn’t afford to be in the same situation six months later,” Santiago said. “All I ask of A&E is that they do their part and do the work to get this building ready. There’s no doubt we’ll be back. That’s where we live, that’s where we want to be, that’s our home.”

According to officials, fourteen people were injured that day, including four firefighters, while hundreds were estimated to have been left homeless.