MIDTOWN EAST — A 66-year-old woman died in a high-rise apartment building fire on Sutton Place South Tuesday afternoon, FDNY and NYPD officials said.
The deceased was identified by neighbors as Silvia Maginnis, a retired United Nations interpreter.
"I knew her very well, a very sweet lady," said Marjorie Blank, who lives next door to Maginnis. "As cold as New York is, it's a shame if you don't occasionally talk with your neighbors."
The deadly blaze, which was reported at 2 p.m. Tuesday, broke out on the 14th floor of a 21-story residential building on 45 Sutton Place South, FDNY said.
Maginnis was found unconscious inside her 14th-floor apartment and was pronounced dead on the scene, NYPD said.
"I saw this big poof of smoke and then them knocking the windows out," said Diane Silver, 60, who lives on the 13th floor of the building and saw firefighters working to contain the flames.
It took the firefighters about hour and a half to bring the blaze under control, officials said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, said the FDNY.