New York City has drastically reduced the number of criminal cases it pursues over serious fire safety violations, a review of court data shows, prompting worries about the rigour of its fire prevention strategy just months after a devastating fire killed 17 people in a Bronx high rise.
After the pandemic hit in March 2020, the closure of criminal courts led to a precipitous drop in the number of cases being filed every month. But the sluggish pace held even when courts reopened, and even after city leaders publicly pledged to crack down harder on fire safety violations following the January blaze in the Bronx.
Compared with the roughly 9,800 criminal cases filed on average every year in the decade leading up to the pandemic, there were fewer than 200 in 2021, amounting to a more than 98 percent reduction, according to court data. As of mid-September this year, the number was just over 200.
In responses to emailed questions, city officials did not dispute the decline in criminal prosecutions. They said fire inspectors were directed in September 2020 to pursue lesser, civil charges in many cases, so that they could be quickly processed in an administrative court that remained open during the pandemic.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that focusing on civil charges was the best way to keep New Yorkers safe, adding that the city had stepped up fire safety outreach after the Twin Parks blaze and directed city agencies to share information on violations.
“With criminal courts severely backlogged as we come out of the pandemic, continuing to issue criminal summonses for all infractions would be unwise and risks further delaying when serious infractions can be heard,” she said.
The number of people killed in fires has decreased dramatically in New York City in recent decades, and the city’s fire prevention efforts have typically been held in high regard. But the January fire in the Bronx, at an affordable housing complex, Twin Parks North West, was one of the deadliest in decades and underscored how lower-income and immigrant communities remain disproportionately exposed to fire danger.
The city has traditionally prosecuted property owners and businesses such as hotels and restaurants in criminal court when lesser penalties for safety hazards are ignored. New York also pursues criminal cases when a problem — say, a locked exit or improperly stored flammable material — presents a significant danger.
