By Stephen Stirling
More than 20 residents of Fairmont Hall in Flushing, still reeling from an explosion that tore through the building in July, have hired a lawyer to explore legal action against the building's owners in the coming weeks after spending nearly three months without gas service.
More than two dozen residents of 147-25 Sanford Ave. crowded into a classroom at JHS 189 in Flushing Monday night to get an update on the nearly three-month span many of the building's residents have gone without gas service — a situation that climaxed on July 25 when an explosion seriously injured several tenants and demolished more than a half dozen apartments.
“We still know zero about things in the building. All of us have been through a lot,” said Fairmont Hall Tenant Association President Bellanira Sanchez. “Now we are going to face our problems with a lawyer.”
Several residents of Fairmont Hall have not had gas service since June 18, when a separate kitchen fire damaged one of the lines in the building. Several tenants of the building's 90 apartments have stopped paying rent and retained the services of a law firm, Bernstein & Bernstein, to potentially seek damages for the building's poor living conditions.
“It is their obligation to put you back in the conditions that you were in not only prior to the explosion, but prior to the date the gas was turned off in the first place,” attorney Mark Bernstein told the residents. “Anyone who thinks that the landlord isn't going to do that, they're wrong.”
Representatives for the building's owner, All Wall Construction Corp., could not be reached for comment. The cell phone line for Fairmont Hall business manager David Pace was listed as disconnected when called prior to press time.
City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) and state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) also attended the meeting and said they expect the FDNY to make a formal report on the cause of the explosion in the near future.
“The owner of the building is afraid for his own livelihood. The building owner, in my opinion, is trying to cover tracks,” Liu said. “The Fire Department is not prepared to make a public report yet, but I know they are making progress.”
Liu has been a consistent critic of the building's management since the July 25 explosion, which Pace has called baseless and offensive.
“It's going to be a long and diligent process,” Pace told TimesLedger in the weeks following the blast. “But that's our top priority right now, getting cooking gas back to all these apartments.”
“It's a tragedy what happened here,” he added. “But this has always been a great place to live and we're going to get it back there. It's just going to take time.”
Sanchez acknowledged this Monday, urging residents to be patient with the repairs regardless of their looming legal battle.
“They don't want to cause another tragedy,” she said. “We have to help, too.”
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at Sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, ext. 138.
