Brandmændene er joviale. “Welcome to New York” siger de, da de kommer ind i lobbyen hvor vi sidder klokken to om morgenen og stirrer på det blinkende FIRE-skilt i skabet.

“At least the tree didn’t catch fire”, siger en af dem og peger på juletræet, da de fem minutter efter kommer tilbage fra kælderen, hvor røgen kom fra.

“We got a new room, because the heating wasn’t working, but the key card is not working,” siger vi til receptionisten, da de andre gæster er gået.
“Oh, so it was because of you guys that we had a fire. I have to talk to the owners of this hotel tomorrow. To make the boiler working in the basement, they put a pile of wood beside it.”