Emergency housing set to expire one week after Boynton Avenue fire displaces dozens

The Housing Preservation and Development department and other agencies are now working with those displaced families to find more long-term solutions for their housing.

Heather Fordham and Adolfo Carrion

Jan 30, 2024, 1:33 AM

Updated 259 days ago

Share:

Emergency housing expires tonight for Soundview tenants who were displaced by a fire on Boynton Avenue last week.
The front door of 1053 Boynton Ave. is stamped with a vacate order and locked with a chain. The building was victim to an accidental electric fire that sparked from an extension cord on the second floor.
Over a dozen residents were forced out of their homes and were placed in a Brooklyn hotel by the Red Cross. They were then sent to Chinatown, where they spend their last night living in temporary housing on emergency assistance.
For the Radcliff family, who have been hotel hopping for the past week after being displaced and are currently in Chinatown receiving shelter, they don’t know what’s next.
"We'll stay here for as long as they'll let us stay, but we don't have money for this like I said,” said Michael Radcliff. “It's too much money we don't have it, we need some help right now."
The Department of Buildings says their inspectors found extensive fire damage at the scene, including holes in the roof and missing windows, that forced them to place a full vacate order on the building. That vacate order still remains in effect.
The DOB tells News 12 that they have issued multiple orders to the landlord to install a sidewalk shed around the building, properly seal any openings, and to shore up the fire-damaged roof.
The Housing Preservation and Development department and other agencies are now working with those displaced families to find more long-term solutions for their housing. The Radcliffs, who say they’ve spent over $700 to extend their stay, say they’re still left with unanswered questions and a murky future.