Even today, there is ongoing debate among builders, safety experts and first responders about whether New York City is doing enough to reduce the risks of high-rise fire catastrophes—all as a new generation of supertall, super-skinny towers remakes the city’s skyline.
New York City firefighters responded to more gas leaks than any other city in the nation, a new study found.
Nearly four months in, NYCHA broke down its lithium-ion battery rules and the potential consequences for noncompliance.
“We aren’t helping delivery workers by forcing them to charge unsafe, unregulated equipment in their apartments. We need more regulation to protect these hard-working riders and their neighbors, not less.”
The Bronx apartment fire that killed at least 17 people Sunday has also left more than 100 families homeless, in some cases with no clear timeline for a return to their apartments.
The two pension funds, which comprise about $63 billion in assets, don’t seem likely to follow the other retirement plans in abandoning oil and gas holdings.
FDNY responded to 41,000 fires in 2017. The city did not burn evenly, however: Some community districts saw four times as many fires as others.
The city says it is withholding the information to protect employee privacy. But the lawyer for two FDNY emergency medical unions is suing to get it to see whether the deck is stacked against their members.
As some parts of the FDNY’s portfolio, like structural fires, diminish in number, the frequency of other jobs like responding to gas leaks—which come with their own risks—are growing.
A veto-proof majority of the New York City Council has signed on as co-sponsors of a law that would push residents to install a kind of smoke detector that might be more likely to save lives than the type frequently found in city homes.
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