Federal prosecutors say Narinder Singh and son Jawahar set the fire a day after losing an eviction fight with their landlord
A Desperate Act on Video
A father and son from Long Island were charged with arson in federal court on March 5, 2026 after prosecutors say they set fire to a Queens building where they had been squatting a printing business — and were caught doing so on their own security camera. The fire destroyed the building on 101st Avenue in Richmond Hill on February 18, gutting the print shop and damaging the adjacent business of a neighboring owner.
What Prosecutors Say Happened
According to the federal criminal complaint filed in Brooklyn, Narinder Singh and his son Jawahar Singh had been engaged in a lengthy and bitter eviction dispute with the owner of the 101st Avenue building. They had operated a printing business in the space. On February 17, a judge declined to issue a stay of eviction. Hours later, the building went up in flames. FDNY investigators recovered video footage from the print shop’s own interior security system. The footage, according to the complaint, showed the father and son standing near a hot plate and rolls of paper towels. One roll caught fire. The fire spread to other rolls, to boxes and to other materials throughout the store. Prosecutors allege the Singhs remotely activated the hot plate using a smart plug. No other person appears to enter or leave the building in the footage, according to FDNY Fire Marshal David Leibowitz, who wrote in the complaint: “I believe the defendants Narinder Singh and Jawahar Singh started the fire.”
The Damage
The fire gutted the print shop and spread to the neighboring business of Manny Rampal. “It affected us big time,” Rampal told ABC7. “It’s not only our family. A couple of families run their families from that place.” Rampal told reporters he believed Singh had been convinced he would never be forced out. “I think he thought he was never going to leave this place,” he said.
The Charges
Both men are charged with malicious use of fire to damage property used in interstate commerce, a federal charge. Jawahar Singh appeared in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday and was released on bail. His father was hospitalized following their arrest and did not appear.
Eviction, Desperation and Commercial Tenancy
The case highlights a pattern that legal observers have noted: the absence of strong protections for commercial tenants can leave small business owners in protracted, acrimonious disputes with landlords that occasionally escalate to criminal acts. The Small Business Majority has documented the particular vulnerability of immigrant-owned small businesses to eviction and displacement in high-cost urban markets. New York City has no equivalent of its residential rent stabilization system for commercial tenants, a gap that tenant advocates and small business groups have called a significant policy failure. The Richmond Hill case is a reminder of how desperate circumstances can drive people to catastrophic decisions.
