Bronx homeless shelter a firetrap??

From the NY Times:

When a developer built an upscale apartment building in the Westchester Square area of the north Bronx, complete with balconies and plans for a day care center, neighbors took it as a sign that their scruffy community was on the rise.

But now, a year later, the six-story brick building has been converted into a homeless shelter for more than three dozen families. Instead of a cause for hope, local leaders see the building, at 1564 St. Peter’s Avenue, as an emblem of the neighborhood’s problems, and a fresh source of kindling for their anger at City Hall.

City officials, however, say the homeless problem has reached such dire levels that they have no choice but to open shelters, sometimes at short notice. Homelessness has risen 30 percent in this fiscal year compared with last year, according to the Department of Homeless Services. Roughly 38 percent of the city’s homeless families come from the Bronx, more than any other borough.

The city began sending homeless families to St. Peter’s Avenue in August, paying $90 per unit per day, according to a letter Robert V. Hess, the commissioner of homeless services, wrote to the comptroller’s office.

Now this is interesting...Homeless families were moved in starting in August, yet on September 1, the doors were still sealed with plywood.

And the REQUEST FOR JOINT FDNY/DOB INSPECTION filed the following day still has not been answered. Judging from the language, it looks like it probably was requested by the DOB inspector that answered the original complaint. If the DOB can't get inspectors to answer complaints, then it doesn't bode well for the rest of us.

Oh well, they're just poor people, not luxury condo owners. If they burn to death City Hall won't care...