By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Nearly two months after a fire tore through a residential building, killing two family pets and leaving dozens homeless during the holiday season, tenants complain that their landlord has still failed to make necessary repairs.
Restoration of the 18 apartments at 510 W. 218th St. has seemingly come to a halt over the past month, according to two tenants who asked to remain anonymous so as not to jeopardize their relationship with the landlord.
Several tenants have complained about missing jewelry and electronics in the weeks following the fire, blaming the unsecure condition of the building and apartments.
Police received a report of a stolen television one day after the fire, according to Captain Jose Navarro of the 34th Precinct.
"It has been over a month, and absolutely nothing has been done to the burned-out or damaged apartments," wrote one tenant in an e-mail. "The entryway looks the same and the stairway is dangerous."
The residents say several apartment doors have yet to be repaired, windows are still boarded with wood in several cases, and the stairwell remains unstable after only receiving patchwork repairs immediately after the fire.
The cooking gas is also still not on in the building, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Tenants living in the building said they are still being charged their full rent despite the lack of repairs.
The building's landlord, Hakim Azizi, did not return calls for comment.
According to HPD, Azizi has made some patch repairs to the staircase in the building, but has not completed work on the scorched hallways and rebuilding of the stairwell.
Delivery of 19 apartment doors and one rooftop door are expected within the next two weeks, to be followed by the arrival and installation of 47 new windows, according to Eric Bederman, an HPD spokesman.
"Repairs [are] still needed, but it's not for lack of effort on the part of the owner," Bederman said. "He has been making arrangements in a timely manner given the extent of the damage and needs of the building."
Bederman also said that the landlord would not be able to turn the cooking gas on in the building until the architect hired for the job files repair plans.
"Doing the permitting and getting plans approved is a necessary part of getting these repairs on track and the tenants homes properly fixed," Bederman wrote. "Sometimes it can take a while, but all indications are that the owner is moving quickly — not holding up the process."
Residents in 13 of the 18 damaged apartments were allowed back into their homes at the end of December, but tenants from five apartments badly damaged by the fire will have to wait at least six months before they can return to their homes.
John and Kristen Galvin and their upstairs neighbors, Tom Cicero and Darren Nimtich, suffered the most damage to their homes and lost their family pets — a dog named Murphy and a cat named Kelly, respectively.
In the days following the fire, Inwood residents raised at least $13,000 for the Galvins, who did not have renter's insurance on their home. Nimtich and Cicero did not accept a donation from the public as their fire damage was covered by renter's insurance.
Water and smoke damage closed Starlight Dry Cleaning, which operates on the commercial ground floor of the building, for approximately two weeks before it reopened.
Fire officials said the fire at 510 W. 218th St. was most likely caused by an electrical malfunction.
A sophisticated marijuana lab was also discovered in the building during the rescue operations, according to Capt. Navarro. The lab was not related to the cause of the fire, said fire officials.
