On Tuesday, Jan. 9, the Bronx borough president’s office displayed a floral wreath to mark the second anniversary of the Twin Parks North West fire that killed 17 people, including eight children. Flags at Borough Hall were lowered to half-staff in honor of the victims.
The fire at Twin Parks North West, which had been home to a large Gambian immigrant community, was the city’s deadliest in decades — and investigations revealed that it likely could have been prevented.
The fire, started by an overworked space heater, spread quickly due to malfunctioning self-closing doors that turned the 19-story building into a chimney, according to a New York Times investigation. The victims died not from the flames but from smoke inhalation.
“Twin Parks was a painful reminder of the work needed to invest in fire safety education and our city`s housing infrastructure so families are provided with safe and quality housing and we prevent a tragedy of this magnitude from ever happening again,” Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said in a Jan. 9 statement.
On January 9, 2022, our Borough faced a horrific 5-alarm residential fire at Twin Parks Northwest that would claim the lives of 17 of our residents. We are grateful for our first responders and everyone who helped and supported our families. We honor. We reflect. We remember. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/9rI2tIhLDz
— Hon. Vanessa L. Gibson, MPA (She, Her, Hers) (@Vanessalgibson) January 9, 2024
The fire prompted a slew of new legislation at the city, state and federal levels.
U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres introduced a bipartisan bill to empower the U.S. Fire Administrator to conduct on-site investigations of major fires and produce reports detailing the findings. Prior to President Biden signing this bill in Dec. 2022, only local fire authorities had this power.
City Council passed a package of bills to impose stricter penalties for faulty self-closing doors; ensure that only safe space heaters are sold in New York; increase the frequency of building inspections; and bolster FDNY education efforts.
“Our community is still heartbroken and healing. From improving self-closing door laws, to increasing fines for violations, and tackling the causes of fires, we will do everything to prevent this from ever happening again,” Council Member Oswald Feliz, whose district includes Twin Parks, said Jan. 9 in a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter)
Despite the new laws, however, concerns persist.
The Gambian Youth Organization issued a statement on Instagram that not only expressed sorrow for those who were lost, but also anger at “unfulfilled promises” for those who were not made whole after the fire.
“In the first week after the fire,” the statement said, “elected officials made promises to family members that, to this date, have not been fulfilled.” The group went on to detail their frustration at “unanswered” issues of accountability and healing that the victims’ families and others are still grappling with. This frustration speaks to a larger disparity: these types of major fires “are not happening in white communities,” according to a 2022 investigation by Documented, which showed that areas like the Bronx with high numbers of Black and Hispanic residents also have high rates of major fires.
Today, fire safety in the Bronx has become even more problematic with the prevalence of e-bikes and scooters, whose lithium-ion batteries can spontaneously catch flames that even a fire extinguisher cannot put out.
Fire officials and local electeds hope that education can help. Since many New Yorkers coming from warm climates are not accustomed to East Coast winters, information in multiple languages is critical to keeping people safe.
The borough president is planning a series of workshops this winter, in cooperation with FDNY. More information will be coming soon, according to the office.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams posted on X on Tuesday a link to his office’s guide to winter safety both indoors and outdoors, geared especially towards New Yorkers who are unaccustomed to winter weather. Williams also linked to a Landlord Watchlist that allows residents to complain about safety issues in their buildings that are not properly addressed.
Phone calls to the Gambian Youth Organization and Gambian Society in New York were not answered.
For an in-depth retrospective marking the one-year anniversary of the fire, see bxtimes.com/retrospective-one-year-after-twin-parks-fire/
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
