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Residents and reporters push county and city to act after Asteri building fire and repeated safety incidents
Summary
A resident-journalist and tenants’ advocates urged Tompkins County and the City of Ithaca to press the Asteri building owner and manager for rapid safety fixes after a fire investigated as arson and repeated prior incidents.
Zach Wynne, who said he has been reporting on a string of small fires in stairwells before a larger blaze at the Asteri building, told the Tompkins County Legislature the incident was “foreseeable” and described unsecured doors and broken locks at the building.
“Find out how much it is costing taxpayers to pay for the continual responses to the building by law enforcement, fire, and ambulance personnel,” Wynne said, urging the county to consider modifying or rescinding the tax abatement offered to the developer and to stop DSS housing payments to the operator until conditions improve.
Other legislators and city officials in attendance acknowledged the problem and said the city and county are holding conversations. Pierre Saint Perez, a member of the Ithaca Common Council, said on a personal level he believed city and county should work together and that the city’s tactics and tools likely give it more direct leverage over building code and nuisance enforcement.
County Administrator Corso Coomphy confirmed administrators are in discussion with the city, state agencies that funded the project, and the property manager. “We will use our relationship with the city and other county agencies to see where we can intervene and what actions can be taken to bring some degree of normalcy into the space,” Corso said.
Why it matters: Multiple speakers said the Asteri house approximately 180 households and that the building’s problems have been repeatedly reported. Legislators expressed concern about repeated emergency responses, the public cost of those responses and the wellbeing of residents.
What’s next: County and city officials said they have meetings scheduled and will continue to pursue options to address public safety and housing stability. Legislators indicated further conversation will take place in the near term; no new county ordinance or formal county action was taken at the June 3 meeting.
Ending: Several legislators said they expect more coordinated action in coming weeks.
