This week will mark the four-month anniversary of one of the deadliest fires in the city.
Several city council members held a hearing on Wednesday to discuss fire safety and what can be done to prevent another tragedy like the Twin Parks fire that killed 17 people.
The hearing focused on how to prevent future tragedies from happening. The FDNY says smoke was able to travel throughout the Bronx building because of malfunctioning self-closing fire doors.
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development reported that its agency issued 17,000 self-closing fire doors violations to landlords this year, compared to 23,000 last year.
City Council is looking at legislation that reduces the amount of time a landlord has to correct the violation from 16 days to 10 days, but some say the measure doesn’t go far enough.
They are also considering legislation that would require all space heaters sold in the state to have an automatic shut-off switch.
Another proposed law includes requiring FDNY to conduct community outreach on fire safety and self-closing doors, dwelling and increasing indoor temperatures from 62 to 66 degrees in buildings during winter months.
Councilmembers say they will be working to get a number of these legislative measures passed to increase safety for all New Yorkers.