BK Landlord Who Set Fire To Apartment Over Unpaid Rent Faces 25 Years

BED-STUY, NY — A landlord accused of setting fire to a Brooklyn rental while small children were present amid a dispute over unpaid rent could face up to 25 years, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Rafiqul Islam, 66, of Bed-Stuy, pleaded not guilty to arson and attempted murder charges related to the Sept. 26 attack, during which Islam set the stairwell of the apartment building ablaze, prosecutors contend.

Some six small children were inside the apartment building on Forbell Street near Glenmore Avenue when the fire broke out, as well as two adult tenants, authorities said. The tenants had stopped paying rent but refused to move out, prosecutors said.

Before the blaze, Islam dropped a dead cat in the hallway in front of their apartment, prosecutors contend.

"It’s a miracle no one was killed or more seriously hurt," said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.

The incident unfolded around 5:20 a.m. on Sept. 26, after one tenant noticed a burning smell outside the family's apartment, prosecutors said. When he spotted the flames in the building's only stairwell, he grabbed his children and climbed out a window, prosecutors said.

After they climbed to the roof, the parents dropped their kids down into the neighbor's arms — and the adults jumped off the roof to safety.

"Firefighters arrived to find the building fully engulfed," a representative of the district attorney's office said.

Islam can be seen on video surveillance in a mask carrying a bucket and a garbage bag, then leaving the building right before the tenants called 911, prosecutors said.

It wasn't the first conflict between Islam and the tenants, prosecutors contend. As early as February 2023, the tenants accused Islam of threatening to cut their power and set fire to the building.

Islam was arrested a month later, and is being held without bail. He is expected back in court in January, according to the district attorney's office.