By Joy Bergmann
Starting at 3:38 am Sunday morning, 60 firefighters responded to blazes on the 14th and 16th floors of 201 W. 93rd Street, the De Hostos Apartments operated by the New York City Housing Authority, FDNY officials said. The fire was reported as under control by 4:22 am. Two civilians refused medical treatment at the scene, FDNY said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Last month, then Public Advocate Letitia James named NYCHA as the #1 worst landlord in NYC on her 2018 Landlord Watchlist. The De Hostos Apartments were among the 20 top developments in need of repairs. The 223-unit building had 492 open work orders as of October 2018 with an estimated repair cost of over $27 million, according to the report.
Another UWS NYCHA development, the WSUR (Brownstones) encompassing 236 units across 36 buildings located between 89th and 93rd Streets, also made the top 20 list with 599 open work orders and an estimated repair bill of over $52 million, according to the report.
