The horrific March 25, 1911, Triangle Shirtwaist fire in the Asch Building, at Washington Place and Greene St., was commemorated Tues., March 25, for the 103rd time, with a ceremony at the site, now known as the N.Y.U. Brown Building. There were Triangle fire descendants, labor leaders and union members. Speakers included City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. In addition to a wreath of red and white carnations left outside the Washington Place building, there were chalked words of remembrance on the sidewalk in front of 35 Second Ave. in the East Village, where members of the Maltese family, who were among the fire’s 146 victims, had lived. Of the total, 123 were women and girls, mostly immigrant, who sewed “shirt waisters,” or women’s blouses. At the Washington Place memorial, a modern fire truck ladder was solemnly raised up to the building’s top floors. At the time of the fatal blaze, fire truck ladders couldn’t reach the factory on the eighth through 10th floors, and many of the victims leaped to their deaths.
