Female Arsonist Indicted for Three-Alarm Chelsea Blaze, Other Fires

A female arsonist has recently been indicted for setting a series of fires across the East Village and Chelsea, the last of which became a dangerous three-alarm blaze. The charges lodged against Brittany Babb, 32, of the Bronx, in New York State Supreme Court include various counts of felony arson and misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

As alleged in court documents and statements made on the record, Babb’s incendiary spree began on April 1, 2026, at approximately 4:30 a.m., where she set cardboard and debris on fire in front of 239 First Avenue. This address, on the northwest corner of East 14th Street opposite Stuy Town, is home to Empanada Mama, a salon and a four-story walk-up apartment building that somehow survived the ages.

A few minutes later, she set more cardboard and debris on fire in front of 333 E. 14th Street, a large apartment complex a few buildings away which includes the Peter Stuyvesant Station post office on its ground floor. This fire eventually spread to a nearby car.

On April 12, 2026, at approximately 5:12 a.m., Babb lit a piece of cardboard on fire and entered a vacant six-story building at 210 Seventh Ave., on the northwest corner on West 22nd Street, in Chelsea. Although this building—which once included locally-named Chelsea’s Espresso Bar on its ground floor—has been abandoned since at least 2009, the buildings on either side of it are occupied and, in addition to destroying 210 Seventh Avenue, these adjoining structures were also damaged.

According to the FDNY, the fire began at approximately 6:08 a.m. The blaze was raised to two alarms at 6:17 a.m., then to three alarms at 6:24 a.m., with around 63 units, and 192 firefighters, EMS and fire operations personnel responding. The inferno was reported under control at 8:12 a.m

“Engine and ladder companies were here withing three minutes and twenty seconds,” said Deputy Fire Chief Anthony Arpaia at an on the scene press briefing afterwards.

“Two firemen suffered minor injuries, which were incurred because “the building was odd in that had a lot of copper flashing, so the grunt work to be able pull all of that off and expose the fire and get it out [caused] minor inuries to these guys.” Otherwise, because of the light Sunday morning traffic and 210 Seventh Avenue being a corner building, Arpaia added, “it was kind of a smooth operation.”

“I felt and heard an explosion,” Camelia Entekhapifard, who lives in an neighboring building and took video of the smokle and fire, told Pix11 news. “It was so scary.”

Department of Correction records describe Babb as a white female, five feet two inches, 140 pounds. She plead not guilty and is currently being held on Riker’s Island on $25,001.00 bail. Her next scheduled court date is July 22.