Apt Building Evacuated Due To Carbon Monoxide Gas

Utica, NY (WIBX) - The apartment building on 500 Columbia Street in Utica was evacuated over the weekend due to unsafe levels of carbon monoxide gas. The owner, Ernest Sanita, told Utica police that a tenant was operating a generator in Club Isis, a Cabaret operated by the renter inside the building.

The tenant, Chantal Bien-aime, told officials that he used the generator to open his business after National Grid suspended his service due to non-payment. Several occupants were treated at the scene by paramedics and the first floor of the building was later deemed uninhabitable by the City's fire department. No word on whether Bien-aime was ticketed for the incident. This is Bien-aime's second run-in with officials who previously revoked his Cabaret license, for refusing a mandatory inspection.