One of those hotly contested Ramapo and Rockland issues flared up Wednesday — in real flames.
Illegal housing and pop-up schools converted from single-family housing have been an on-going issue with fire and rescue groups in Ramapo and other parts of the county.
“If the town is going to continue with its policy of granting permissions after the fact and ignoring violations, it’s time for a higher authority to step in,” said John Kryger, Chairman of the Rockland County Illegal Housing Task Force in an article by LoHud’s Steve Lieberman on Wednesday regarding the recent Monsey house fire.
A 13-year old Monsey girl, who lived in a house immediately adjacent to another single-family home that had been converted into a yeshiva, was treated at Suffern’s Good Samaritan for smoke inhalation. According to LoHud’s Steve Lieberman, the girl “was treated at Good Samaritan Hospital, [and] had been home alone in the caretaker’s house with two small dogs when an iron left unattended in a second-floor bedroom ignited” a fire.
The Suffern, Tallman and Monsey fire departments responded to the fire, which was apparently extinguished without further incident, although Ramapo fire inspector Thomas Buckley reported that the house was uninhabitable due to the fire and smoke damage.
The incident was precisely the kind that members of the Rockland County Illegal Housing Task Force have been campaigning to bring attention to — houses that have been converted into both illegal schools and dormitories and often lack fire-safety devices and plans, and have various code violations. The Rockland Task Force had reported the yeshiva to the New York State Codes Division some time ago and blasted the owners of the property again on Wednesday.
Task Force Chairman John Kryger said Ramapo is a “ticking time bomb,” according to Lieberman. “It was an illegal school in a former one-family home which has been cited by the town, but continues to operate as it seeks tax-exempt status,” said John Kryger in the LoHud article.
Rockland County executive candidate David Fried (D) has called for a Neighborhood Protection Plan to curtail illegal apartments that includes “countywide standards and a shared database” between towns and villages, as well as punitive fines.
Fried’s opponent, candidate Ed Day (R), said in a statement Thursday morning that the house fire is “directly tied to two of our biggest issues we are facing here in Rockland,” which Day framed as illegal housing and the need for county “action and increased enforcement.”
Day has proposed $7,500 per day for infractions aimed at developers who face repeated code violations.
A neighbor that lives next door to the illegal yeshiva told LoHud that “close to 150″ came out of their classrooms and assembled to watch the house burn.
“The kids all came out and went onto the lawn to look at the fire,” Annette Doerr told LoHud. “I’m screaming like a lunatic at them to get away.”
Photos courtesy of Seth Harrison and The Journal News.
