Justice may have been served by the arrest of the man responsible for killing five people in last week’s devastating Bensonhurst fire, but the pain lingers.
Alleviating just a small amount of the hurt, City Councilmember Domenic Recchia, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty have set up a Bensonhurst Fire Victims Fund, which is designed to raise money for food, shelter and supplies for the now homeless victims from the apartments above the sushi restaurant on 86th Street near 20th Avenue.
On Tuesday, cops arrested 27-year-old Daniel Ignazio, a resident of the building, who claimed that “demons” prompted him to douse a roll of toilet paper in paint thinner and light it on fire with a smouldering cigarette.
Four men and a woman were killed after the building went up like a tinderbox.
Since the fire early Saturday morning, Recchia has been meeting with the families, the Guatemalan consulate and local community leaders, including William Lombardo, owner of the Coney Island Memorial Funeral Home, who has agreed to help cover the funeral services.
“These families lost everything they had,” said Recchia. “Many of them have only the clothes on their backs, and they need our help. New Yorkers consistently show a charitable spirit when tragedy strikes. We need that charitable spirit right now.”
Anyone wishing to contribute can send checks to “Bensonhurst Fire Victims Fund c/o Met Council” at 80 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038.
