A recently proposed City Council bill, developed in response to January’s tragic fire in the Bronx, would increase the mandated minimum temperatures in apartments during cold-weather months. The bill is unlikely to make tenants safer, though, and it could drive up rents.
The measure also is inconsistent with New York City’s laudable efforts to reduce buildings’ carbon footprint.
Few can fully fathom the horror of the Fordham Heights fire, which took 17 lives, and it is natural to want to respond. The tragedy’s causes, however, lie more in a failure to comply with or enforce existing laws than in any gaps in the law.
The 19-story building
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