Victim of East Village Fire ID’d; Neighborhood Rallying Around His Injured Dog, Bella
The fire on Feb. 2 took the life of Robert Bartolomey, a 75-year-old man and longtime East Village character, who lived on the second floor, where the fire broke out.
| 07 Feb 2025 | 03:47
Bella is a Miniature Pinscher who was beloved as she roamed the East Village neighborhood with her owner, 75-year-old Robert Bartolomey, who died in an apartment fire on Feb. 2. Neighbors, hoping the pooch can recover, are raising money on a GoFundMe. page (
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Firefighters rescued Bella from the flames in an East Village apartment on Feb. 2, but the beloved pooch is still battling to recover from her injuries from the fire, which took the life of her 75-year-old owner. (
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The 75-year-old man and longtime neighborhood resident who died in a fire in an East Village apartment fire on Feb. 2 has been identified.
Police on Feb. 6 identified the victim as Robert Bartolomey. His name had been withheld initially pending family notification. Meanwhile, a stunned neighborhood has been rallying around efforts to save his beloved dog, Bella. The Miniature Pinscher was a common sight in the neighborhood walking without a leash accompanying Bartolomey. Bella was pulled from the flames by firefighters on Feb. 2 but is struggling to overcome problems associated with carbon monoxide poisoning from being in the room where her owner perished for up to a half hour.
A neighbor in the building at 65 Second Ave. told Our Town Downtown that the victim was an Air Force veteran who had served in the Vietnam War, but Our Town Downtown was unable to verify the information or obtain details about any burial arrangements at presstime.
“He was a neighborhood character,” said Dean Mann, a neighbor of the victim’s who lived across the street and who was handed the injured dog by firefighters on the day of the fire. “They knew him in the neighborhood and they definitely knew his dog,” said Mann, who rushed her to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital on the day of the fire. Although she had no signs of burns, Bella apparently suffered serious neurological damage from being in the fire-ravaged room with her owner.
Mann said he had bonded with Bartolomey because he had a dog named Tippy that frequently played with Bella. Both were Miniature Pinschers. “When I walk Tippy around the neighborhood, people think it is Bella,” he told Our Town Downtown. “They’re doppelgängers,” he said.
But he says that Bella has been on life support since the fire, suffering from vision problems, and she is having difficulty walking due to the after-effects of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Mann’s sister, Krisi Letendre, who started a GoFundMe to raise money for the injured dog’s care, posted that Bella was recently transferred from the Emergency Veterinary Hospital.
“Last night she was transferred to the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center of NY (AMC) for more-specialized treatment, specifically neurology,” wrote Letendre. “Because of the carbon monoxide poisoning, in addition to her mobility issues, her eyesight was affected. Today she will be undergoing CT Scans, an MRI, and other neurological exams. They will also run tests and exams on her lungs.”
As of Feb. 7, the drive had raised $14,588 from 269 contributors, including two anonymous donors who contributed $1,000 each. The goal is to raise at least $20,000.