City Council sets Nov. 20 emergency hearing on residential fires and lithium-ion batteries

The City Council will hold a joint oversight hearing on Nov. 20 to examine residential fire safety and lithium-ion battery storage after a sharp rise in fatal and battery-related fires, Speaker Julie Menin announced Friday.

Menin will lead the session with Council Member Joann Ariola, who chairs the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, and Council Member Pierina Sanchez, who chairs Housing and Buildings. The Council said it will hear from city agencies, fire-safety experts, advocates, workers and the public on whether existing laws are enforced and whether new legislation is needed.

According to the Council press release, New York City has recorded 406 battery fires so far in calendar 2026, compared with 241 over the same period in 2025. The FDNY has reported nine deaths and 70 injuries from battery fires this year. The New York Post framed that jump as a roughly 68% increase and said the hearing was called in the wake of this week’s Sunset Park fire.

Menin’s statement linked the hearing to the six deaths in Thursday’s Sunset Park blaze and to a late-October South Bronx apartment fire sparked by an e-bike battery that killed four people, including an 11-year-old — 10 deaths across the two incidents. Sunset Park Council Member Susan Zhuang said e-bikes were found at the Brooklyn scene even as the cause remains under investigation. ABC7 reported Friday that Menin called the session an “emergency hearing” to test agency enforcement gaps.

The release lists existing 2023 local laws that already require public education campaigns, restrict sales of uncertified powered mobility devices and batteries, limit reconditioned cell sales and create a replacement program for safer devices. The Nov. 20 hearing is meant to test how those rules are working in practice.