TESTIMONY
Member of the Public on Systemic Failures and Loss of Life Following the January 9, 2022 Fire in the Bronx
0:31:37
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5 min
A community member details the systemic failures leading to and following the January 9, 2022 fire in the Bronx, advocating for significant policy changes.
- The testimony highlights the intersectionality of economic disparity, racism, anti-immigrant bias, and Islamophobia exacerbating situations like the Bronx fire.
- Residents of 333 East 181 Street faced neglect of their basic rights to safe, dignified living conditions, leading to devastating consequences.
- The speaker remarks on the city's lack of prompt action in addressing housing code violations and the tragic loss of 17 lives in the aftermath.
- Emphasized is a strong endorsement for newly introduced bills that aim to enhance safety measures and accountability to prevent future tragedies.
- Personal experiences and observations of substandard temporary housing for fire victims underline systemic neglect and the urgent need for change.
UNKNOWN
0:31:37
Good morning, everyone.
0:31:39
Thank you so much on chair Sanchez, members of the housing committee, council member Avelis, council member Feliz, and our members cheer and members of the fire and emergency management for having us here today and for standing and working with our community back on January 9 2022, and the months following it.
0:32:03
My testimony today is a plea for our lives.
0:32:08
For it to be recognized, for our civil rights, for our existence to be recognized.
0:32:17
The residents of 333 East 181 Street, and our community at Lodge in the South And West Bronx.
0:32:26
Exists at the intersection of economic disadvantages, anti blackness, anti immigrant sentiments, and Islamophobia.
0:32:37
Our right to live safely and our light to leave safe and dignify rise have been willfully ignored and outright attacked on January 9th and before January 9.
0:32:53
In 1 of the coldest weeks of the winter, no one should have resorted to space here to keep themselves and their families warm.
0:33:02
And these are the type of situations that have led to many of the fires in our communities where there's lack of heat, hot water, and other basic necessities that everyone should have in their homes and houses.
0:33:18
It should not take more than 1 tenant complain about the building heating for a landlord to make appropriate repairs.
0:33:26
It should not take the loss of multiple lives for a city to finally look into years of housing code violations.
0:33:36
The following days after January 9, we sat at the mosque and we prayed over 17 caskets.
0:33:45
It was in 1, it was in 2, it was in 5, it was in 10, it was 17 caskets that we had to pray over, including young children and babies.
0:34:00
From the greed and negligence of the building owner to the city turning a blind eye to years of complaints Each one of these failures was an act of violence against the residents of 333 East 181 Street.
0:34:15
Forcing hundreds of people to live in such horrible and deplorable conditions, deprived of basic necessities made their death almost inevitable.
0:34:26
As Salim mentioned, we welcome and strongly and doors the bills being introduced today.
0:34:35
Because this will help save our lives, along with the package of bills that Council member Feliz introduced with with other members of this council back in January 2022.
0:34:49
What we witnessed following months of this fire was us standing up for our community because we knew that the city was going to neglect those things that we needed.
0:35:03
We kept the center open 24 hours.
0:35:07
We were underground at Monroe to pro provide language access to our community as council member Avilis mentioned even though sometimes these educational materials are available, they do not cater to our community and the language needs.
0:35:25
We were at the shelter hotels every single day for the 3 to 6 months that people were displaced during that time, and we witnessed what happened there.
0:35:37
We saw bed bugs.
0:35:39
We saw people crammed into hotel rooms, when there were rooms, extra rooms available, which they could have been paid to be in.
0:35:47
And this wasn't only for the 333 fire residence.
0:35:52
When my mom my little sister and I, our home got our home, we experienced a fire in 2014.
0:36:03
We were sent to a motel that was so degradable that my mom had to leave and pay out of pocket for to have somewhere to spend a night.
0:36:14
These are the conditions that brown sides are subjected to when fires occur.
0:36:21
We want this city.
0:36:22
We want HPD.
0:36:24
We want Red Cross to recognize that we are human beings.
0:36:29
That we have the right to exist in dignity.
0:36:34
And we want when fires occur for these things to be respected and for us to be treated, like how everyone else in other ZIP codes are treated.
0:36:44
And we want for fires to be prevented.
0:36:47
We want for measures to be taken for inspections to happen for people to be qualified, to be trained, to make sure that they can carry out these inspections and complaints are in left for years without being addressed.
0:37:01
Thank you all for your time.