PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
At the Triangle Fire memorial, a fire truck ladder was raised to the Brown Building’s eighth floor, where the Triangle Shir t waist Factor y blaze broke out. However, when the tragic fire struck 107 years ago, fire trucks’ ladders could only reach as high as the six th and seventh floors.
Flowers for ’11 fire victims BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y
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n Fri., March 23, the annual commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was held at the corner of Washington Place and Greene St. The day was cool but sunny as labor leaders and local politicians spoke, and community members laid carnations for victims of the fire 107 years ago. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers — 123 women and 23 men — who perished from the flames, smoke inhalation, falling or jumping to their deaths. The factory’s exits were chained shut and firefighters of that era did not have ladders that could reach up to the building’s eighth
floor, where the fire broke out. The Triangle Fire was a critical event in the history of the U.S. labor movement, the New Deal, the development of occupational safety and health standards and the New York City Fire Department. At last Friday’s commemoration, the New York Labor Chorus sang. Flowers were also laid for those who have recently died in other tragedies, such as the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Today the 1901 building where the tragic Triangle blaze occurred is owned by New York University. Formerly known as the Asch Building, today it is called the Brown Building.
Schoolchildren laid white flowers on the sidewalk outside the Brown Building where many of the fire’s victims died after falling or jumping. Flowers were also laid for victims of recent mass shootings, including the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. TheVillager.com
March 29, 2018
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