An early morning tragedy this Christmas. There's been a deadly fire at a historic apartment building in Greenwich Village.
It certainly is a sad story here. A man died in the fire when flames ripped through his mostly underground apartment. It was a small, $1,200-per-month efficiency unit, referred to by many as a "literary artifact" at the base of a 176-year-old building.
In this very apartment the writer Ruth McKenney penned the book "My Sister Eileen," which would later evolve into the 1953 Broadway musical "Wonderful Town," which is currently in revival on Broadway.
The most recent resident, David Ryan, lost his life this morning at the age of 48. He spoke with Eyewitness News just about one year ago as he was organizing a campaign to fight the encroachment of PATH train service into this area. He was concerned the development would hurt some of the older buildings around here.
Today, we spoke with his landlord.
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