Bronx tenant with disabilities left homeless a 2nd time after apartment fire

A Bronx tenant with disabilities, who was the victim of a fire back in June, is now left homeless again after a second fire.

News 12 Staff

Oct 23, 2020, 12:04 AM

Updated 1,447 days ago

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A Bronx tenant with disabilities, who was the victim of a fire back in June, is now left homeless again after a second fire.
Armando Chico and his roommate say they had just moved back into their second-floor apartment that was damaged after a fire broke out in June--inside a first-floor unit at 685 East 140th St.
However, it has barely been a month and they are homeless once again.
Earlier in the week, a fire sparked in a first-floor apartment next to the unit that previously caught on fire--displacing Chico and his roommate for a second time.
Chico says he was staying at a hotel provided by the American Red Cross. However, he says he had to check out because the Red Cross doesn’t provide long-term housing.
He says opted to sleep Wednesday night in the front seat of his friend’s car. Before this, the city’s Housing Preservation and Development’s Emergency Housing Division
found him a shelter location.
The 46-year-old Bronx resident says he has a spinal deformity and suffers from both asthma and high blood pressure.
He says a shelter puts him at greater risk during the pandemic. He says his building is trying to place him in an emergency unit in the building, but so far he is still waiting.
HPD released a statement saying, “Emergency shelter remains available and HPD stands ready to assist the household get back on their feet. "
Chico says HPD recommended he check the city’s website for a place to say.
However, he’s concerned that the paperwork to get him into a unit will take days due to the pandemic, time he says he doesn’t have in his dire situation.