by JONATHAN LEMIRE
A fire safety director at Merrill Lynch and a security executive at Lord & Taylor were among 104 business owners and employees arrested for not fixing potentially deadly fire code violations, officials said Tuesday.
The sweep by the FDNY and the Department of Investigation, continuing a crackdown after last year's fatal Deutsche Bank fire, targeted building owners who ignored summonses.
The clampdown, which stretched across every borough except Staten Island, included the arrests of Mario Rosa at Lord & Taylor and Clay Singleton at Merrill Lynch, as well as managers at St. Anthony's Baptist Church in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and the El Anzuelo Restaurant in Jamaica, Queens.
"Failing to address fire code violations puts New Yorkers at serious risk," said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, "and this citywide sweep is designed to ensure all business and building owners adhere to the law."
Since the DOI's surge began last summer, more than 221 business owners, building owners and their employees have been arrested and $50,550 in fines have been collected from those who failed to appear in court, officials said.
"We are going to keep going with these, and we are not going to stop making these arrests," said DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.
 |
