Relatives Of Family Killed In Harlem Fire To Sue City: Report

HARLEM, NY — Relatives of the family that died during a May fire in a Harlem public housing building are planning to sue the city and are claiming that neglect of the building contributed to the death of six people, according to reports.

A $2.2 billion wrongful death lawsuit was filed against New York City and the New York City Housing Authority for the deadly May 8 fire at the Frederick E. Samuel Apartments building on West 142nd Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, the New York Post first reported. Andrea Pollidore, 45, her children Nakiyra, 11, Andre, 8, Brooklyn, 6, and Elijah, 3 and stepson Matt Abdularaph, 32, died in the fire.

Pollidore's surviving daughter Raven Reyes brought the lawsuit against the city, according to reports.

"It’s hard to put a dollar value on the loss of human life, but the $2.2 billion, we feel, is appropriate in light of the current situation," Evan Oshan, the lawyer representing Reyes, told the Post.

Oshan noted that $2.2 billion is the same amount NYCHA paid in a settlement with the federal government in January over poor conditions in the authority's buildings.

Pollidore and her family were unable to escape their apartment during the fire because flames cute them off from the home's exits, fire officials said in May. Preliminary investigations indicate that the fire was an accident sparked by an unattended stove, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said following the fire. The apartment's kitchen is located near the front door, which prevented the family for exiting the apartment and made it difficult for firefighters to enter the home, fire officials said. The quick-moving fire also prevented family members from accessing the fire escape, which was located on the opposite side of the apartment from the bedrooms, Nigro said.

Firefighters discovered the victims in the apartment's rear bedrooms after they were able to extinguish the blaze, fire officials said. It took a crew of about 100 firefighters nearly two hours to bring the fire under control.

The building where the fire broke out is part of the Frederick E. Samuel Apartments development run by the New York City Housing Authority. More than 1,400 people live in the 40-building development, which is made up of low-rise apartment buildings in the West 140s.