GRAMERCY — A person was seriously hurt when a fire erupted inside an apartment building that was once dubbed "a virtual supermarket for crack cocaine" until it was seized by U.S. Marshals and transformed into a supportive housing facility, officials said.
The person, whose identity was not released, was injured about 6:20 a.m. when the fire began on the 22nd floor of Kenmore Hall, at 145 E. 23rd Street, an FDNY spokesman said.
The injured suffered serious injuries, but was in stable condition and being treated at a Manhattan hospital, the spokesman said.
"The alarms went off and I got out of my room," said eighth-floor tenant Tim Woods, 69.
"They had shut down the elevator, so I took the stairs. I got outside and there were a lot of firemen with hoses ready. They were going up."
Kenmore, which is now run by the supportive housing nonprofit Housing and Services, Inc., was once a run-down residential hotel where drug dealers operated freely and prostitutes serviced their clients in the halls and stairwells, according to the New York Times.
The federal government seized the building in 1994, the newspaper reported.
Then in 1999, HSI renovated the building for $34 million and now provides housing for people leaving the homeless shelter system, homeless veterans and those living with HIV and AIDS, according to the nonprofit's website.
Fire marshals were still investigating what sparked Wednesday's blaze, FDNY officials said.
HSI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
