NY Post – February 24, 2015
by Ben Feuerherd and Dana Sauchelli
A Manhattan artist and his dog were killed early Monday when a fire tore through his apartment, cops said.
Dutch painter Edward Albers, 59, was inside his East 16th Street home in Gramercy when the third-floor blaze erupted just after midnight, officials said.
Firefighters battled the flames for more than hour and got the fire under control around 1:20 a.m., the FDNY said.
Albers was found inside along with his German Shepherd, Captain. The artist was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he later died, cops and officials said.
“There was a lot of smoke,” said neighbor Demetrios Argyropoulos, 51. “It was coming through the wall into my building. He was just wearing some boxer briefs. They tried to revive him and he didn’t come to.”
Albers worked as an apprentice in Holland restoring stained glass windows until he came to the United States in 1975. In 1987 he received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
A neighbor said Albers had been struggling with an illness in recent years.
“He used to walk the dog up and down the street and say hello,” Argyropoulos said. “It was getting very difficult for both of them; they were both greatly slowed down.”
Friend William Mandeville, who knew Albers for 20 years, said they used to ride motorcycles together.
“He hurt his back in 9/11, so he stopped riding the motorcycle after that,” Mandeville said. “He had a great dog. The dog’s name was Captain. I’m sorry to see Captain go, too. He was a great big mean-looking thing, soft-hearted.”
Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the blaze.
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