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Guttman Arraigned as Search Continues for Second Firestarter
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 9, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 9, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Developer Joshua Guttman and his son Jack were are being arraigned on 434 counts of negligence regarding the upkeep of the now-destroyed Greenpoint Terminal Market, as investigators continue to search for the second man involved in the massive fire. The Guttmans purchased the abandoned warehouse last year for an eventual commercial-resiedential development, but they "failed to maintain" the waterfront property.
During a court hearing yesterday for Leszek Kuczera, the homeless man who confessed to starting the fire, prosecutors gave more details about the fire:
Prosecutors said that on May 2, Mr. Kuczera and three other men started a bonfire inside the warehouse complex called the Greenpoint Terminal Market in order to burn the insulation off several hundred pounds of copper wire that they had collected and intended to sell. Burning insulated wires is a common way for scrap metal collectors to rid them of their surrounding plastic sleeves, making them more valuable, the authorities said.
In court yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Gavin Miles said that when the men first tried to light the fire, using gasoline and diesel fuel, it did not spark. "So they got more fuel, and tried again," he said. "The fire went up, and it ignited a very tall ceiling above the fire. The defendant and others panicked and fled."
The Daily News says the copper would have been worth about $600. The NY Times has an article about other homeless men who live around Greenpoint. Kuczera's wife Hanna tells a Polish newspaper that his clean-up work at Ground Zero "haunted" him and says the green card he won in a lottery is "cursed." Kuczera is being held without bail at Rikers.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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