The Bronx Apartment Fire that occurred on January 9, 2022, at 333 East 181st Street has upended and disrupted the lives of many families. As of today, 17 people have died. Countless lives and families have been affected, with their property damaged and foundations shaken to the core. As the Associated Press recently remarked, it was “the city’s deadliest blaze in more than three decades.”
The unfortunate fact of this accident is that it could have been prevented, with many lives saved, with proper municipal involvement. However, the city institutions and figures we ideally should be trusting have turned a blind eye toward addressing and fixing the condition of crucial fire safety features that the building’s landlords allowed to slide.
At Ronemus & Vilensky, we do not stand for this negligent conduct. Our firm has been at the forefront of defending tenants’ and apartment owners’ interests in apartment building fires citywide. The 2014 Harlem Fire, 2017 Prospect Avenue Fire, and the 2019 Bronx Fire are among the many incidents our firm has served as class counsel.
The residents of 333 East 181st Street deserve more than lip service from government officials who have, at best, slapped the wrists of those responsible for maintaining the building and failed to proactively address many of the building’s issues for at least six years, if not more.
It is why our firm has stepped up to file a class-action suit on behalf of all Bronx Apartment Fire victims against the government officials and agencies responsible for overseeing the building’s maintenance. More specifically, our complaint alleges that these agencies and officials were negligent in breaching its special municipal duty to the tenants of 333 East 181st Street by allowing those responsible for maintaining the building to enable the following safety features to become ineffective and inoperable at the time of the fire:
- The building’s safety doors, which would have been vital for containing the fire and its attendant smoke and preventing areas of the building from becoming smoke traps
- The building’s smoke and fire detectors, which would have been critical for alerting tenants about the presence and source of the fire
The firm’s class-action lawsuit demands no less than $1 billion on behalf of all members of the class and each member separately for the injuries and expenses they sustained, along with interest, costs, and disbursements.
While the firm reserves the right to modify its complaint, our class action suit addresses the inactions and negligence of the following parties:
- The City of New York
- The Building Department of the City of New York
- The Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development
- Bill DeBlasio, former Mayor of New York City
- Melanie LaRocca, former Commissioner of Buildings
As our complaint asserts, these entities and figures failed to fully take the steps necessary to require the building’s landlords to fix and maintain the building’s safety doors and fire & smoke alarms. These entities failed to do so even though they were well aware of similar issues that led to the 2017 fire at 2364 Prospect Avenue in the Bronx, which killed 13 people and injured many others.
The injuries and damage that the families and tenants of 333 East 181st Street have endured from this incident have been devastating and, even worse, avoidable. These residents deserve their time in court to seek proper redress from the city agencies, officeholders, and commissioners who have failed them. Ronemus & Vilensky looks forward to leveraging its decades of experience in apartment building fire litigation to further the rights and interests of those affected by the Bronx Apartment Fire.
For more information about our class-action lawsuit, please contact attorneys Michael Ronemus and Robert Vilensky at 212-779-7070. As with any lawsuit, the firm reserves the right to modify its claims and causes of action based on new developments in the case.
