As investigators work to determine the cause of the fire at 2910 Wallace Ave., records reveal that the building’s landlord has faced numerous complaints and lawsuits over alleged neglect and disrepair. Complaints filed against the landlord include reports of no heat and hot water, alongside multiple legal actions related to conditions at his properties.
The six-story apartment building, constructed in 1931, housed 98 rent-stabilized units and is owned by Ved Parkash of Parkash 2910 LLC. The property management company, based in Jamaica, Queens, did not respond to calls from the Bronx Times seeking comment.
The fire broke out in the early hours of Jan. 10, 2025, and investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Since 1:40 a.m. Friday morning, the FDNY has been operating at the scene of a 5-alarm fire at 2910 Wallace Avenue in the Bronx. There are currently seven injuries. Firefighters have been battling a heavy wind condition that advanced the fire. pic.twitter.com/f9Sl2B2uUU
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 10, 2025
HPD records show 11 complaints this month of no heat throughout the building, along with additional complaints since the start of January now marked closed. A total of 239 heat/hot water complaints to 311 have been recorded over the past three years, according to the property records website WhoOwnsWhat.
At a 9 a.m. press conference following containment of the fire, reporters said they heard that residents had been using space heaters and stoves to warm their apartments — the same problem that sparked the Twin Parks fire that claimed 17 lives almost exactly three years ago.
City officials said they had not yet heard complaints to that effect but are continuing to investigate.
It appears Parkash’s record as a landlord has been on the city’s radar for some time. He was named the city’s worst landlord in 2015 by then-Public Advocate Letitia James, and WhoOwnsWhat lists Parkash as landlord (or one of multiple landlords) for 72 buildings throughout the Bronx and Queens, with heat/hot water as the top complaint for all but seven of them. One of his properties, 750 Grand Concourse, has filed 592 heat/hot water complaints in the past three years, according to the site.
In 2017, the New York Post slammed Parkash as a “notorious slumlord” who owned an apartment building infested with rats carrying leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that infected at least one resident who had to be hospitalized. That building, according to reporting, was 750 Grand Concourse.
Court records show Parkash and associates as the defendant of 16 active lawsuits in Bronx and Queens Supreme Courts. Some were the result of trip-and-fall-type injuries on the property, one for a scalding water incident in 2021 and at least three for partially caved-in ceilings that fell onto residents.
Parkash and associates also became notorious for evicting a disproportionate number of tenants from low-income areas, even when tenants have city-funded legal representation, as reported by THE CITY in 2019.
Parkash and associates also faced legal action in 2023 for subleasing rent-stabilized units in order to charge higher amounts, then squeezing families and even strangers into illegally divided spaces — all while allegedly harassing and threatening tenants.
While the cause of the blaze at 2910 Wallace Avenue is not yet clear, fires sparked by electrical heating equipment are an increasing concern as cold January weather sets in.
Earlier this week, a Washington Heights woman died in an apartment fire that FDNY said was caused by “numerous space heaters” plugged into extension cords with other appliances.
Per FDNY Fire Marshals, the fatal fire early Tuesday morning at 41 Bennett Avenue in Manhattan was caused by electrical wiring. Numerous space heaters were being used to heat the apartment and were plugged into extension cords with other appliances.
Space heaters should never be… pic.twitter.com/GlbVBkZHIl
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 9, 2025
The work has begun in assisting families displaced from the Wallace Avenue fire, which left seven people injured and at least 254 people from 93 households registered with the Red Cross.
On Friday afternoon, Sen. Jamaal T. Bailey, who represents the area, issued a call for donations of food, clothing and essential items at his office or the offices of Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Assembly Member John Zaccaro Jr. or Council Member Kevin Riley.
This story was updated at 2:25 p.m. with numbers of those assisted by the Red Cross.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
