The six-story residential building at 43-09 47th Ave. has been in disrepair since December 2023. Photo courtesy of Lauren Koenig.
July 15, 2025. By Shane O’Brien.
The New York City Council has passed a resolution introduced by Council Member Julie Won calling on the state legislature to pass legislation that would require negligent landlords to cover the costs of a temporary apartment for tenants displaced by fire.
The legislation, sponsored by State Sen. Mike Gianaris and Assembly Member Claire Valdez, was inspired by the victims of a Sunnyside fire at 43-09 47th Ave. in December 2023. More than 250 people were displaced from the six-story residential building after a five-alarm fire ripped through the building.
FDNY officials said the fire started when a contractor hired by landlords A&E Real Estate illegally used a blow torch.
A&E has yet to start repair work at the building, citing complications with insurance, leaving residents scattered across the city for the past 18 months.
Gianaris and Valdez’s legislation would require negligent landlords to provide suitable housing to any tenant displaced by fire. While the legislation would not force landlords to carry out repairs, Gianaris said it would create a strong financial incentive to do so quickly.
“It would incentivize the rehabilitation of the building so that people can go to their actual homes much faster, because the longer that a landlord is expected to pay for suitable accommodations, the more the incentive is for them to actually fix the building itself so people can get back in their homes,” Gianaris told QNS on June 16.
However, despite passing the State Senate in the closing days of the 2025 session, the bill died on the floor of the Assembly over concerns of how the bill would be implemented. Gianaris has signaled his intent to reintroduce the legislation when the Senate reconvenes next year but said it is “disappointing” that the bill will not be passed this time around.
On Monday, the City Council passed Won’s Resolution 802 calling on the state legislature to pass the legislation when it returns next year. Won welcomed the Council vote in a post on Instagram.
“After fires caused by landlord negligence, tenants are left without homes or support,” Won wrote in the post. “In my district, over 250 tenants were displaced in 2023 after a fire caused by A&E Real Estate. The building is still empty and unrepaired.
“That’s why I’m grateful that my resolution, Reso 802, passed calling on Albany to pass S.3886/A.5427, which would require landlords to cover temporary housing for displaced tenants.”
Won said the legislation would ensure tenants are not left homeless by fires they did not cause. She also praised the Council for passing pieces of legislation tied to a package of bills aimed at helping New Yorkers who have been impacted by fires or other emergencies, known as the Back Home Act.
Two bills, introduced by Brooklyn Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, were approved by the Council on Monday.
Intro-749 requires the mayor to designate an agency or office to provide centralized support to residents displaced by a fire, natural disaster, or other emergency impacting a residential building.
The designated agency or office would be required to serve as a point of contact for displaced residents by responding to inquiries and requests for assistance.
Meanwhile, Intro-750 requires the Department of Buildings to report on the length of time it takes to repair vacated units. The legislation also requires building owners to submit additional documentation when seeking to demolish a building.
Won said the Back Home Act will also help ensure that tenants displaced by fire do not end up homeless.
In the aftermath of the Sunnyside fire, A&E Real Estate offered displaced tenants six-month temporary relocation license agreements, allowing them to rent units in other A&E-owned buildings at the same rate they had paid in Sunnyside. Under mounting pressure from elected officials and community members, the company later extended the agreements twice — each time for an additional six months.
However, residents told QNS that many tenants turned down the offer because the apartments were located far from their Sunnyside neighborhood — in the Bronx or deep into Queens — effectively uprooting them from the community they had long called home. Gianaris said his legislation would require landlords to find “comparable” accommodation for displaced tenants.
In response, an A&E spokesperson said the company had only a limited number of vacant units in Sunnyside and insisted it “did its best” to keep displaced residents in the neighborhood. While acknowledging the hardship tenants faced, the spokesperson called the situation “imperfect” and maintained that the company’s options were limited.
They added that the building is “hemorrhaging money” in its current state, as A&E cannot collect any rent. They further argued that A&E made all necessary repairs to prevent further damage immediately after the fire but said further repairs have been hamstrung by the building’s insurance company, which allegedly insisted on carrying out the repairs themselves rather than providing A&E with the means to do so.
“Every day this building sits empty is a loss for us, and a hardship to the families that called it home,” an A&E spokesperson said. “Since the insurance company took complete control of the rebuilding process, it has slowed to a crawl. We are applying every pressure we can to get this process moving.”
Gianaris called A&E’s explanation “absurd,” criticizing the company for citing insurance complications as an excuse for failing to carry out repairs.
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