New-York tribune., 1901-08-01
CRIMINAL OFFICIAL NEGLIGENCE

Three persons were burned TO death and a
fourth probably fatally injured yesterday morn
ing in a tenement house fire at No. $40 GOld-st.
Brooklyn Some of the news accounts speak of
these fatalities as the result Of accident but
they Were not. These persons owed their deaths
10 the acts of John Gulfoyle, Commissioner of
Buildings OF the Borough of Brooklyn. who has
persistently and deliberately failed TO give the
dwellers in tenement houses the protection
against fire which the law commands him TO
give, and of Robert A. Nan Wyck Mayor OF the
city Of New York, who has for months refused
10 take any notice of the perfectly well known
criminal negligence of his subordinate.
Last December Commissioner Guilfoyle, testi-
flying at one Of the hearings OF the Tenement
House Commission. declared that he knew of no
tenement houses in his borough where the fire
escape law was being evaded. He was imme-
diately confronted with the report of the agent
Of the commission that in one ward of Brooklyn
alone, the Seventeenth, out of G6l tenement
houses inspected 2S3 were found TO be entirely
without fire escapes. Fire escapes on such
buildings are imperatively required by law
and the Commissioner is fully empowered to
enforce compliance with the law and most
solemnly charged with that duty and sworn 10
perform It, Instead OF profitng by this reve-
latiOn of his ignorance and Incompetence, Com
missioner Guilfoyle devoted himself TO getting
even with the reformers' who had discredited
him and made him uncomfortable In a few
weeks with great glee ne announced that he
had caught Mr. W Bayard Cutting whom he
described as president of the Tenement House
Commission" himself violating the building
laws. Tammany thereupOn INDUCED in much
cynical rejoicing over the way he had put in
the hole the commission which was calling on
however. Mr.. Guilfoyle had TO apologize for his
mistake" and confess that Mr. Cutting was
not even a member of the Tenement House
Commission; that he was not responsible for
the buildings in question, but merely a stock
holder in a company which owned them, and
that there was not even any violation of law in
the buildings themselves. The whole thing had
been merely a stupid attempt at revenge on the
workers for improved tenement houses for their
exposure OF Tammanys administrative short
cOmings. The failure 10 enforce the fire escape
law. and also 10 enforce other mandatory pro-
visions Of the building law. was shown 20 be
habltual in both Manhattan and Brooklyn and
was generally commented on. The Mayor. how
ever, took no steps 10 punish his subordinates
for their past neglect or 10 secure their future
faithfulness.
The result was seen yesterday. when three
persons were sufOcated in the Gold-st. house
and one person was terribly injured by the
breaking of an imprOvised rope fire escape.
simply and solely because Commissioner Gull
fOyle failed 10 have an iron fire escape put on
that building. as bis oath Of office required him
TO do. and because Mayor Van Wyck was Grim
inally Indifferent 10 his Commissioners faith
lessness On their heads is the blood OF these
poor victims Of unenforced law. From time to
time officials are indicted for criminal negli
eence for failure 10 close disOrderly houses