Lawmakers are calling for federal action in the wake of this month's deadly Bronx fire

2022-01-28T12:18:00-05:00

On the heels of [the] horrific Bronx fire that killed 17 people, including eight children, Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Ritchie Torres on Tuesday unveiled a "4-point federal fire safety package" that includes addressing sprinklers, self-closing doors, heaters and federal investigation powers.

The pair of lawmakers had recently joined together to push the federal government to include the Cross Bronx Expressway into the infrastructure bill. Their new fire safety plan includes a mandate on automatic space heater shutoff features. The early-January fire that killed 17 at the Twin Parks North West apartment building near Fordham University has been blamed on a device that had been left unattended for days.

Torres has been adamant about bringing the incident into the national conversation on housing inequality, pushing in Congress for punitive measures that can be affected against landlords that do not properly maintain routine building safety measures like the self-closing doors that failed in Twin Parks.

“People of color in places like the South Bronx often live in conditions that put them at far greater risk of losing everything — their homes, their families, their own lives — from a catastrophic fire,” Torres said at a press conference. “We have the tools to save lives. ...

The ABC's of Gentrification

2019-05-07T19:19:00-04:00

When bad things happen, we look around for someone to blame. And when it comes to gentrification, which is loosely defined as somebody not like you moving into your neighborhood, there’s no shortage of things to blame.

Depending on where you live it isn't difficult to notice specific changes happening within your neighborhood. From trendy housing developments, boutique shops, and independent cafes gentrification affects more than a neighborhood's curb appeal. A buzzword many have become familiar with these shifts in housing and businesses have appeared as controversial hot topics in politics and urban planning. However, what exactly does gentrification mean? If gentrification is something seen by all, why is it that so few understand the variables and details that go into this process?

For residents who have lived in older neighborhoods gentrification is understood as sever change and displacement. With the urban landscape continually changing all over the globe major cities are becoming denser and denser by the minute. Residents are being pushed out and forced to adjust to changes they're expected to understand. Thanks to the City Observatory, a website providing a data-driven analysis of cities...

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Lawmakers are calling for federal action in the wake of this month's deadly Bronx fire

The ABC's of Gentrification