Weather: Warm temperatures again today-though not as balmy as yesterday-with highs around 70. Skies will be mostly cloudy.
Story of the Day: Crackdown After Deadly Belmont Blaze
Mayor Bloomberg and chorus of other elected officials are calling for stricter regulation and punishments for building owners who oversee illegal apartments, after a fire early Monday killed a Bronx family of three in Belmont. The apartment where the victims lived was illegally subdivided, faultily wired and a haven for squatters, neighbors said.
It’s unclear who should be held accountable for conditions at the Prospect Avenue building, which has no clear owner-according to the Post, the original landlord lost the property to foreclosure years ago, and that the building has since been part of a Texas private-equity firm’s multibillion-dollar portfolio of subprime mortgages. The Times reports that some tenants were paying rent to another squatter who was living there illegally. The Bronx District Attorney’s office also announced it will be conducting an investigation into the fire.
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