A 44-year-old mother of two, who was to appear in federal court the next day in a $20 million discrimination lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Manhattan and others, died in a Sunday morning fire in her Flushing home.
At about 3:15 a.m. on chilly October 18, around 80 firefighters responded to 156-07 71st Avenue in the Pomonok Houses, where apartment 5A of the seven-story building was ablaze.
Inside, they found Bianca Kuros, better known as Bianca Wisniewski, her 17-year-old daughter Olivia and two men in their 50s, reportedly relatives, all unconscious.
Wisniewski was pronounced dead at New York Hospital Queens, where her daughter was admitted, listed in critical but stable condition, as were the men who were taken to different hospitals. A 16-year-old daughter was reportedly not at home at the time.
Wisniewski, a former “pioneering hardhat” construction safety supervisor, gained notoriety in July when she filed a federal lawsuit accusing her employer, Total Safety Consulting of Long Island City, for firing her after she complained of unwanted advances by another worker at the Chase Manhattan site, 270 Park Avenue.
She had alleged that an elevator operator at the work site named Steve Greco propositioned her – and that when she brought the issue before her superiors, it was “brushed off.” She also reportedly claimed that she was fired over the issue and a man was hired to replace her.
Greco and his Queens-based union, Local 14 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, are reportedly also defendants in the lawsuit. He reportedly denied even knowing her when interviewed after the suit was filed.
The news stunned her lawyers.
“We’re shocked and concerned for Bianca’s family,” Janette Wipper, an attorney at Sanford, Whittels and Hesler, LLP, told The Queens Courier on Monday, October 19, while partner Steven Whittels was scheduled to be in court for Wisniewski’s case.
“I saw her about two weeks ago,” Wipper said. “It’s hard to believe.” She also said that the firm was proceeding with the suit regardless.
When asked about Wisniewski reportedly complaining of threatening phone calls, Wipper said that they “didn’t know anything about phone calls or suspicious activities.”
“We would hope that they [fire marshals] would do a thorough and prompt investigation,” Wipper said.
Despite contradictory reports of the fire being “suspicious,” an official FDNY spokesperson told The Courier, “The fire is under investigation. Until something comes out of the investigation, we would never say that it ‘was suspicious’ or ‘was not suspicious’.”
“Sources” quoted in published reports said that the fire probably started in the living room of the apartment, and that an overloaded wall outlet may have been the cause, but the official spokesperson declined to comment on the reports.
The spokesperson said that one firefighter had sustained a minor injury, and that the fire was declared “under control” just before 4 a.m.
Neighbors were also aghast.
“I tried to wake them up … I stayed there a long time, banging on that door,” neighbor Demetric Bowman reportedly said. “The door was hot and there was smoke coming out.”
“It’s the most horrible feeling to know someone’s in the apartment and there’s a fire and you can’t do anything.”
The three survivors have been transferred to the burn center at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, according to published reports.
Bogdan Balamut, named as Wisniewski’s boyfriend, is reported to have said that Olivia “was having trouble getting oxygen to her lungs but was going to survive.”
Balamut also reportedly expressed suspicion, saying “I just hope they investigate carefully,” and asking, “Why did this happen now?”
