Arson Charge: FDNY Marshal Claims Fem Firebug Set Blaze That Gutted Chelsea Building
A woman was charged with arson after FDNY fire marshals allege she intentionally set fire to 210 7th Ave., a long abandoned Chelsea building which the Building Department now says must be demolished.
| 01 May 2026 | 11:47
The fire at 210 Seventh Ave. began early in the morning of April 12 and took two hours to contain. (
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The long vacant building, seen hours after a three alarm blaze was extinguished on April 12, was deemed an imminent safety hazard to the public by the Department of Building, which ordered it to be demolished. (
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The demolition of 210 7th Ave. is expected to be completed in June. (
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An 32-year-old woman was arrested by FDNY fire marshals and charged with setting a fire in a long-abandoned building in Chelsea in mid-April.
Four firefighers suffered minor injuries battling the three alarm blaze.
Brittany Babb, 32, was arrested on April 16 in connection with the fire at 210 7th Ave., which destroyed the building. The Department of Buildings deemed the fire damaged structure was an imminent threat to public safety and ordered it to be demolished days after the blaze.
Babb was charged with second-degree arson and reckless endangerment, according to the FDNY. She is set to appear in court on June 5.
The April 12 fire gutted the abandoned five-story building, which has long upset locals residents and political leaders for its decades long existence as a neighborhood eyesore.
After the Department of Buildings conducted several post-fire inspections, it was determined that the building was no longer structurally stable, a DOB spokesperson told Chelsea News. The Building Department found the building posed a threat to the public and issued an Immediate Emergency Demolition several days after the fire.
Statewide Demolition Corp. commenced the demolition on April 28, closing the sidewalks around the building. The construction is anticipated to be completed in June.
Locals said the long-abandoned was in poor condition, due to years of neglect by the previous owner, Errol Rainess. In May 2025, the building was sold in a sheriff’s auction to Chelsea 210 LLC, c/o Casey Schear, for $350,000, city real estate records show. Efforts to reach Chelsea 210 LLC and Casey Schear were unsuccessful.
The fire started around 6 a.m. on April 12 and triggered a three-alarm response from the FDNY. The fire required 63 units of the FDNY and EMS and took two hours to get under control. Four firefighters received treatment for minor injuries.
The building next door at 208 W. 22nd St. also experienced water damage from the fire. That building had exterior cameras, but it was not clear if law enforcement personnel obtained video from the cameras. With building in the process of being destroyed, it would have required fire marshals to obtain physical evidence from inside the building on a fairly expedited basis.
An FDNY spokesperson told Chelsea News that the cause of the blaze was “incendiary” which meant that investigators believed early on that the fire was not accidental. Babb was arrested on April 16, four days after the blaze.