NYCHA Couldn’t File Insurance Claim for Reid Apartments Fire Due To $1M Deductible
The New York City Housing Authority could not file an insurance claim for an August fire at the William Reid Apartments senior housing complex despite possessing a fire insurance policy, a spokesperson for NYCHA said. The 2nd floor of the Reid Apartments was burnt out and covered in soot for seven weeks after the fire, as we reported last week.
The spokesperson told Bklyner that NYCHA’s fire insurance policy has a $1 million deductible per fire event, and that the damage to the building’s second-floor did not reach that amount. She said that, since NYCHA employees were cleaning up the damage rather than contractors, the authority did not have an estimate for the eventual cost of cleanup.
Despite entreaties from residents, NYCHA did not arrive to clean up the damage from the August 24 fire until last week, when Senator Myrie issued a tweeted ultimatum for the authority to begin cleaning up within 24 hours, lest there be “hell to pay.” Cleaning crews arrived in 17 hours.
UPDATE: Look at how good of a cleanup job .@NYCHA did. I’m happy for our constituents. Thank you. Now, we need to ensure this never, ever happens again. There is much more work to be done here and throughout the system, so stay tuned. We will remain vigilant. pic.twitter.com/RJotCgJIvQ
— Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie 米维 (@zellnor4ny) October 25, 2019
The hallway was quickly repainted after the incident. NYCHA workers were, as of Monday, working on replacing damaged floor tiles. Four doors are also in need of replacement, with two scheduled for work on Tuesday and two others unscheduled, according to the spokesperson.