Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Today Alleges 2019 Mass Casualty Fatal Fire In New York City Housing Authority's "Death Trap" Harlem Building Was Predictable And Preventable

NEW YORK, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wrongful death and negligence lawsuits have been filed against the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) on behalf of four of the six Harlem "death trap" apartment building fire victims – including a mother and her four young children – alleging that the May 8, 2019 inferno was predictable and preventable, according to attorney Evan M. Oshan. The separate but related filings (Estates of Andrea Pollidore, minors B.P. and N.P, Mahmoud Ibn Talib Abdul-Rauf. v New York City Housing Authority et al., NY STATE SUPREME COURT), follow Mr. Oshan's pre-suit claim for $2.2 billion against the "historically and institutionally inept" agency on behalf of the victims resulting from the catastrophe that shocked the city and nation.

Mr. Oshan, of Oshan & Associates, (Oshan Law) along with counsel from Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, PC, (SM&B) and Morelli Law Firm (Morelli Law) filed complaints yesterday in New York State Supreme Court. They detail the historical failures of the NYCHA, link the alleged lethal lapses to the actual cause of the early morning two-bedroom unit fire, requests a jury trial, and calls for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The attorneys filed on behalf of the estate administrators for Andrea Pollidore, 45, her minor daughters B.P., 6, and N.P., 11, and Jamilla Abdullah, mother of Mahmoud Ibn Talib Abdul-Rauf, 33, a family friend who was visiting the Pollidores in apartment 5-G of the Frederick E. Samuels Apartment along West 142^nd St. at Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. Mrs. Pollidore's two young sons were also killed in the fire.

"This complaint is the next major step on the path to justice for the victims of a devastating fire in a death trap apartment that we now know was clearly predictable and easily preventable if only the defendants had properly done their jobs and maintained the building," said Mr. Oshan. "As alleged, the victims would unquestionably be alive today if the NYCHA defendants and their employees, not engaged in a long and well documented pattern of intentional and grossly negligent conduct that constituted reckless indifference to the tenants they were entrusted to safely shelter and protect."

The defendants, asserts the complaints, "intentionally ignored the risk to life and limb associated with inadequately equipped and maintained fire detection and suppression systems in the Frederick E. Samuels Houses, including in Apartment 5-G." Specifically, it is alleged, among the dozens of design, maintenance and operations shortcomings, the failure to:

• Monitor and/or maintain and/or service the fire alarms and smoke detectors in the hallways.
• Install adequate fire alarms and smoke detectors in the building, and in the apartment, in compliance with New York City Administrative Code § 27-980;
• Install sprinklers or other fire suppression systems in the unit and throughout the building.

Mr. Oshan added, "We look forward to all the facts in this case coming to light at trial, and to holding those responsible fully accountable for their actions. It is clear and we will demonstrate that the loving mother of those four precious children was in no way connected to the cause of the fire. Her family and Mr. Abdul-Rauf, their close friend who helped with child care due to her work schedule as a health care worker, were asleep, helplessly trapped in the burning fifth-floor apartment that had steel bars on the windows and no sprinklers."

Robert J. Mongeluzzi, of SM&B, whose firm represents the estates minors B.P. and N.P. stated, "Fire safety requires three major elements- fire suppression, fire warning and easy emergency escape . The defendants utterly failed on all three counts- no sprinklers, no wired in smoke detectors and virtually inaccessible fire escapes. The defendants struck out on all three - and these victims paid with their lives." Andrew R. Duffy and Jeffrey P. Goodman, partners at SM&B, are Mr. Mongeluzzi's co-counsel.

Benedict P. Morelli, who filed on behalf of the estate of Mrs. Pollidore, said the victims estates are hoping the end result of the litigation benefits the hundreds of thousands of other vulnerable New Yorkers living in NYCHA units. "The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York's investigation well before this tragedy of NYCHA infamously identified – leading to a record $2 billion Federal court settlement that was supposed to result in sweeping reform at the NYCHA - a culture where 'accountability does not exist,'" he noted. "We aim to finally expose and shatter in court that culture so no resident in a NYCHA building has to worry when they go to bed if their fire alarms and smoke detectors are in working order, and if they sound will they be able to quickly escape to safety." Mr. Morelli's co-counsel in his firm is David T. Sirotkin.

SOURCE Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, PC