Tenants still homeless after Hempstead blaze

A faulty standpipe will delay for at least two more days the return of up to 120 families left homeless by a fire Sunday in their Hempstead apartment building, officials said.

The announcement from the Nassau fire marshal's office Wednesday tested the patience of already frustrated residents of 590 Fulton Ave. whose lives were upended by the blaze.

"They keep dropping the ball," said Karen Hull, 69, who was still trying to get county housing for herself and her 11-year-old granddaughter.

Other residents, trying to cope with the day's intense heat, couldn't contain their anger.

"I'm mad as hell," said Tyreak Nelson, 20, a displaced tenant who punched a wall so hard that he bloodied his fist when he learned that he would remain homeless for several more days. "I want to fight."

Some tenants complained the landlord, Karan Singh, was not doing enough to help. When approached, Singh declined to comment, saying he was not Singh, and pointing to a nearby worker who he identified as the landlord.

Both the Nassau fire marshal's office and Hempstead Village's building department said they had hoped to finish a crucial fire-safety test on the standpipe and allow tenants to move back Wednesday.

Contractors worked this week to prepare the pipe, but it failed the test Wednesday, prompting authorities to seek further repairs or explore replacing it.

Hempstead officials could not be reached Wednesday.

Michael Uttero, a supervisor with the Nassau fire marshal, said he's seen similar repairs take up to three days. "Hopefully . . . [workers] will be done by the end of the week," he said.

The building's fire-safety system was most recently inspected in 2007, Uttero said. It passed a "visual test" at the time but at the time of the fire, the pipe did not meet county standards, he said.

It was unclear whether that contributed to the blaze.

In the interim, displaced families are either finding shelter through Nassau County's Department of Social Services, with friends and relatives, or living on nearby streets.

Resident Gregory Waring, who had been sleeping in the building's parking lot, emerged from DSS with a glimmer of hope. "I got a hotel!" he said.

-- With Patrick Whittle