The death of 17 people from a fire in a Bronx apartment building yesterday shook the city to its core. The New York Times reports that the revised death count includes 8 children in the worst event of this kind since 1990. 

This tragedy brings to mind a similarly awful occurrence, just a few years ago. In West London, on June 14th, 2017, a 24 story high-rise in the Grenfell block of flats caught fire. Exacerbated by improper fire preparedness, the result was 72 people dead, 70 injured, and hundreds more left without a home. It throws into a harsh spotlight how the nature of cities, and the realities of how real estate operates, can have awful consequences. By simply inhabiting a rented space, by no fault of their own, people are forced to reckon with the consequences of these accidents. Often, the owners of these spaces will neglect the safety of their residents in pursuit of greater profit. Even if the victims escape with their lives, the damage done to their livelihoods is immeasurable. 

Of course, it would be dishonest to draw too direct a comparison between these events. In contrast to the negligence at Grenfell, which was checked and shown to be a fire hazard, this more recent tragedy seems by all accounts less preventable. The malfunctioning door which allowed smoke to run rampant throughout the building had been checked by the fire department and maintenance workers, and appeared to function properly until the fateful day. As more information comes out, the blame may come clearer into focus: until then, we cannot make assumptions. Still, while the why of these events differs, the who is the vital beating heart of the issue. 

Many of this fire’s victims are Muslim immigrants from Gambia, members of a more vulnerable population which concentrates in cities, drawn to lower-income districts by necessity. The Grenfell towers district is also populated primarily by low-income people. Many of them are migrants themselves. Much like with numerous other social issues, poverty will naturally worsen whatever hardships people will experience. The need to concentrate in apartment buildings is a natural consequence of less disposable income to spend on housing. Accidents, whether preventable or not, will have a greater adverse effect on more people when the concentration of humans in a space is higher. The aftermath of these accidents are another matter entirely: the resulting homelessness will make an already bad situation worse. If the government doesn't step in, many of these people will simply have no place to go.

As it stands, we should keep a close eye on the response of New York’s institutions to this tragedy. Mayor Eric Adams has promised some form of aid to the victims, as well as assuring them that the information of any undocumented persons will not be passed on to immigration authorities. This is a start, but it cannot be the end. Make no mistake, this is a social justice issue: The ability of a community to provide for its most vulnerable in their time of need is paramount. If we want to prevent this awful thing from being worse than it needs to be, New York has to step up.

**At Mott Haven Fridge Network, we grieve with the Bronx Fire Victims. Please consider giving to the Bronx Fire Relief Fund to support the Bronx fire victims and their families.