Why Avalon's Hackensack tenants may be scared shitless

The rubble left after the fast-moving Jan. 21 fire at the Avalon Bay luxury apartment complex in Edgewater, above and below, likely gave pause to tenants of Avalon Bay apartments in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When Avalon Bay announced improved fire protection systems at planned apartments in Princeton and Maplewood, no one at The Record thought to ask why the same wasn't being done for its Hackensack tenants.

On the same day, a burst fire sprinkler line in the Avalon Hackensack at Riverside complex triggered fire alarms and started pouring water into one of the buildings on Hackensack Avenue, The Record reported on Wednesday.

A Hackensack deputy fire chief was quoted as saying that Hackensack building has sprinklers in the attic spaces and other non-occupied areas, "unlike the 408-unit apartment building that burned last month in Edgewater."

But does the 226-unit Hackensack complex have the same kind of masonry firewalls Avalon Bay now says will be included at the Princeton and Maplewood complexes -- walls that can stop fire from spreading outside the apartment where it started?

No such walls exist at the Edgewater complex.

And today, in a "one month later" retrospective on Page 1, The Record reports an Avalon Bay executive refused to say whether they would be included, if the company rebuilds in the Hudson River community (A-1).

If there are no masonry walls in Hackensack, tenants there have good reason to be scared shitless over the possibility of a fire like the one that spread so rapidly in Edgewater.

Avalon Bay is a real estate investment trust that returns a healthy profit to shareholders, and any fire-safety improvements not required by weak state building codes might cut into that return and make the apartment builder less attractive to potential investors.

Avalon Bay apartments when they were under construction in 2013 between two shopping centers in Hackensack.

Christie lackey

In keeping with The Record's all-Christie, all-the-time coverage, Columnist Charles Stile is back on the front page today with a boring report on everything the GOP bully and "likely presidential candidate" said to New Hampshire conservatives (A-1).

In the last couple of years, Stile has been examining Christie's every word, burp and fart for what they might mean for the mean-spirited official in 2016.

You'd think the veteran reporter is angling to become a press secretary in the Christie White House, in the unlikely event New Jersey's in-your-face governor wins the nomination and election.

More corrections

A-2 corrections seem to be growing more numerous and longer, such as the pair repairing Paterson stories today.

A story on A-3 fails to report that a Port Authority police officer assaulted by a mother-daughter team at Newark airport is also a woman (as reported by Cliffview Pilot.com).

Staffer, veteran

Staff Writer Todd South, who is assigned to cover Hackensack, also has been doing a lot of reporting on veterans, including today's commentary on "American Sniper" (BL-1).

South reports he has served with men like Chris Kyle, a U.S. Navy Seal at the center of the film -- "elite soldiers trained for years to complete complex missions and kill people" (BL-4).

He believes reaction to the film "obscures the real problem that has grown for decades ... the civilian disconnect with its military, its purpose and its work.... For many who watch the film, Kyle is an alien."

The reporter says he was a member of a U.S. Marine reconnaissance unit that deployed in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Editors don't apologize for swallowing blizzard forecast

The driver of a Ford Mustang turning wide at the snow-covered corner of Euclid and Prospect avenues in Hackensack on Tuesday afternoon. The snowfall was far less than predicted. Drivers of Hackensack's plows don't clear corners.

Who is supposed to clear the sidewalk and curb for pedestrians? Is it the city or the property owner?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Page 1 of The Record today, just about everyone apologizes for wrongly predicting a blizzard with 2 feet of snow or more -- except the media.

The Woodland Park daily jumped on the weather doomsday bandwagon and rode it all the way, but apologized to subscribers for not delivering Tuesday's print edition.

That paper was delivered a day late with today's edition, but one look at Tuesday's front page shows just how stale print journalism can be these days. 

New Jersey highways and Hudson River crossings reopened, and mass transit resumed operation in time for Tuesday's rush hour.

Profit over safety

The big weather photo on Page 1 today is more bad publicity for the cheap lightweight wood construction methods used in the 240-unit Avalon at Edgewater apartment building that burned down a week ago (A-1).

How long will the Virginia-based real estate investment trust allow the burned out skeleton of the Russell building to stand and announce to anyone looking for an apartment, You don't want to live here?

In a letter to the editor, Joyce Huber of Ridgefield said of the cheap wood construction and rapid spread of fire:

"We've become a Third World country if we allow profit to come before safety" (A-12).

That's naive. 

U.S. companies have always prized profit over safety, as all of the defective cars and other products show. They have killed thousands of consumers and made product liability lawyers rich.

First lawsuit

Meanwhile, Robert Loposky and Richard Kemp, two tenants of the so-called luxury apartment building, filed a lawsuit, alleging building owners were "negligent in the construction, maintenance and operation" of the complex, where the fire was started by an Avalon employee using a blowtorch to fix a pipe (L-1).

The first paragraph and sub-headline incorrectly call the suit "a class-action lawsuit" on behalf of the more than 500 displaced tenants who suffered economic loss, because only a judge can certify the suit as a class action.

The first paragraph also refers incorrectly to tenants as "residents."  

Cold cash

Also in Local, a story on L-2 reports wealthy Saddle River residents are allowing their children to attend a school where a malfunctioning heating system forces them to keep their coats on.

I guess that means residents prize clear roads more than they do the health and well-being of children, judging from this Anonymous comment I received from a resident in reaction to Tuesday's post:

"My town, Saddle River, is excellent at plowing and clearing snow and slush. Streets, even those hilly ones, are cleared quite quickly and efficiently. We expect -- and get -- nothing less." 

Of course, this proud Saddle River millionaire and residents of other wealthy Bergen County suburbs are more interested in maintaining "neighborhood schools" with no minority children than they are in working heating systems, even in winter. 

Avalon: Edgewater building was designed to burn down

The 4-story Avalon at Edgewater apartment building collapsed into a pile of rubble after Wednesday's inferno, which was started by a maintenance worker using a blowtorch to repair a pipe. An elevator tower, made of cinder blocks, remained intact on Friday afternoon.

Flanked by wood columns, this Undercliff Avenue entrance was one of the few recognizable elements of the so-called luxury apartment building on Friday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

"The purpose of those [fire and safety codes] is not to prevent the building from burning down, but rather to ensure that there is sufficient time and opportunity for all occupants to exit safely in the event of a fire. ..."

You might be surprised who said this about the so-called Edgewater luxury apartment building destroyed by an inferno on Wednesday.

It's Michael Feigin, chief construction officer for complex owner Avalon Bay Communities, according to quotes in The Record today (A-6).

Of course, not all "occupants" reached safety despite the efforts of the Edgewater Volunteer Fire Department and all of the other forces that responded to the raging fire.

An unknown number of pets died, and their owners are devastated (A-6).

Cheap construction

The only luxury aspect of the Avalon at Edgewater building apparently is the high rents -- $2,100 to $3,195 a month -- which don't always include parking.

Avalon officials have acknowledged the destroyed building -- as well as those in Hackensack, Jersey City and other towns -- had cheap lightweight wood construction with a truss style of roof framing, but were built according to code.

CBS2's Tony Aiello reported the building's lighweight wood construction allowed the fire to spread, especially because attics and concealed spaces had no sprinklers.

Click on the following link to hear Aiello's report:

The blaze has been ruled an accident, but ...

Broken record

Feigin, Avalon Bay's chief construction officer, was quoted in Friday's paper, and his statement was repeated today, because an Avalon Bay representative refused further comment, Staff Writer Kathleen Lynn reports (A-6).

But state Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, a construction code official by profession, says he finds "deeply troubling" reports "the building's material and design may have contributed to the spread of the fire"(A-6).

Prieto says he is reviewing "the relevant building codes to find areas that may need to be strengthened."

Unfortunately, The Record's editorial page hasn't challenged self-serving statements from Avalon Bay officials.

Nor have reporters said how much more the company would have to spend, if it employed safer construction -- using cinder blocks and concrete to stop minor fires from spreading uncontrollably, as appears to be the case on Wednesday.

Avalon Bay Communities, a Virginia-based real estate investment trust, owns 82,000 units in 274 complexes on both coasts (Friday's A-7).

Community rallies

Today's lead story on Page 1 is a heart-warming tale of how "the community continued to rally around the hundreds of families left homeless and seeking help" (A-1).

Tenants were required to pay for at least $10,000 in insurance coverage on their belongings and furniture, plus $100,000 in liability insurance (A-1).

Any money recovered through negligence suits against Avalon Bay and its maintenance workers won't be realized for years, given the glacial pace of civil litigation in Bergen County.

And the lion's share of any award or settlement will be gobbled up by ambulance-chasing lawyers.

$1,000 from Avalon

After gouging tenants with high rents in what many view as an unsafe building, Avalon is refunding January rents and providing $1,000 in relocation aid.

But as one tenant notes, the $1,000 "would hardly cover the deposit on a new place."

Meanwhile, donations continued to pour into Edgewater, including more than $60,000 contributed to two funds.

Imagine how we could reduce the homeless population in North Jersey with this kind of response on behalf of people who lose their jobs or whose homes are foreclosed.

A PSE&G crewman, dwarfed by an elevator tower, restoring power to the neighborhood as other workers were putting up fencing and cleaning up water and smoke damage to Undercliff Avenue homes opposite the building that collapsed.

Another Avalon at Edgewater building, rear, appeared to have escaped damage. The building that was destroyed was on Undercliff Avenue, a long block from River Road in Edgewater. 

On the scene Friday were trucks from Public Service Electric and Gas Co., above; the chief's SUV from the Edgewater Volunteer Fire Department, below; and private companies restoring Undercliff Avenue homes, including clothing, that sustained smoke and water damage, and were showered with soot and burnt cinders from the raging fire.

Local news?

Today's Local section is chock full of court, police and accident news.

Kathleen Peet, 37, of Rochelle Park was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for embezzling more than $87,000.

Staff Writer Stefanie Dazio wasn't curious enough to ask what the woman did with the money (L-1).

Two dramatic photos on L-1 show first responders rescuing the driver of a truck carrying "brine solution," but the caption doesn't say whether the solution is for koshering chickens or removing road ice.

A Paterson official was fired for submitting false information on her application for home-repair funds (L-1), and a Clifton school board lawyer resigned after she was criticized "for undermining residents' free speech" (L-2).

And there's news about lawsuits, one filed by an ex-principal and another by a demoted police officer (L-2).

On A-2 today, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes, Deputy Dan Sforza and their minions acknowledge they were responsible for three major local-news errors Thursday and Friday.

How embarrassing.

Avalon built luxury Edgewater, Hackensack units cheaply

The Avalon at Edgewater apartment complex after Wednesday's devastating inferno, above and below. The tower of Riverside Church in Manhattan can be seen through the haze. This afternoon, tow trucks were removing cars from the garage, and crews were putting up fences and restoring utility lines on Undercliff Avenue, where some of the homes opposite the apartments sustained water and smoke damage.

The Avalon luxury apartments had a brick facade and elevator towers made of cinder blocks, above, but were built mostly of cheap lightweight wood construction. The fire was blamed on a maintenance worker's blowtorch, a 15-minute delay in calling 911 and the wood construction, which allowed the flames to spread quickly. The Edgewater Volunteer Fire Department is being praised for rescuing more than 500 people from the burning building.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's follow-up coverage of the Edgewater apartment inferno will be read most closely by lawyers preparing negligence suits and residents of Avalon Bay buildings in Hackensack and other towns.

More than a dozen reporters -- including the local obit writer -- three photographers and one columnist tackle second-day coverage of the fire that displaced 1,000 borough residents.

No interviews

Although the so-called Avalon luxury apartment complexes in Hackensack and other towns were mentioned, no one thought to interview tenants on whether they worry their lives are being endangered by the cheap lightweight wood construction (A-1, A-6, A-10, L-1 and L-2).

Avalon at Edgewater rents were $2,100 for a one-bedroom apartment, $2,485 for a two-bedroom unit and $3,195 for a three-bedroom apartment, but some tenants paid extra for parking.

The first paragraph of today's lead Page 1 story says more than 500 people were left homeless, but inside, readers learn the apartments of 500 tenants were destroyed and an additional 52o were displaced temporarily from nearby buildings (A-6).

Rare byline

Staff Writer Jean Rimbach was brought out of her state of animated suspension in the Woodland Park newsroom to report on "so-called lightweight wood construction" or what she calls "a cheap, faster and legal style of building" by complex owner Avalon Bay Communities (A-1).

Fire officials have long said a safer way of building such apartments would be to use cinder blocks and concrete to stop fire from spreading.

Still, after the original Avalon complex on the same Edgewater site burned down in less than a half hour in August 2000, when it was still under construction, apparently no move was made to strengthen the state building code.

Lawsuits pending

Negligence lawyers are probably itching to get their hands on the names of the Avalon maintenance workers who set the building on fire with a blowtorch and then tried to put out the flames themselves, delaying a 911 call for 15 minutes. 

Potential defendants include those workers and Avalon Bay Communities, a real-estate investment trust based in Arlington, Va. (A-7).

Thanks in part to the cheap construction methods used in tens of thousands of units nationwide, Avalon Bay investors are getting rich, with "returns averaging above 14 percent a year since 1998," Staff Writer Kathleen Lynn reports today (not "Flynn" as I wrote originally).

Better coverage?

Today's coverage improves greatly on Thursday's in terms of photos showing the flames and devastation, even though readers saw many of those images on TV or Cliffview Pilot.com on Wednesday.

One new element readers don't need today is another long-winded column from Staff Writer Mike Kelly, who tells us fires "wound a town, too" (L-1).

Kelly doesn't focus on the cheap construction or whether a booming Gold Coast town such as Edgewater should have a professional fire department.

Instead, he latches onto Al Burke, who drove from his home in Boonton to the borough where he grew up, and "gazed at the smoke and water for silent seconds."

"For silent seconds"? Doesn't Kelly mean "in silence"?

Then, Kelly reports, "His [Burke's] eyes walked up River Road, taking in the caravan of emergency vehicles...."

"His eyes walked ...."???!!!?!@#$%^&!!!

What crappy writing from a columnist who has been churning it out -- merely pushing words around -- for more than 20 years. What a disgrace.

Why no fish?

Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung pans Lan Garden 88, a Chinese restaurant on Route 46 in Ridgefield, but doesn't explain why she didn't order any fresh fish (BL-14).

For many, there is no better Chinese dish than a whole flounder or sea bass steamed with ginger and scallion.

Instead, Ung raves about the "standout fresh egg [custard] tarts," which are made with sugar, heavy cream and egg yolks.

She reports Lan Garden opened in the building that formerly was home to China 46, but doesn't mention a third Chinese restaurant, Pheonix Garden Too, preceded China 46.

She calls the Dungeness crab at $29.95 "one of the most expensive dishes," but lists entrees costing up to $58.