by Joe Gould, Bill Egbert and Jotham Sederstrom
A deadly blaze that tore through the rent-regulated apartment of a mother and her adult son on the upper East Side is not considered suspicious, FDNY officials said Sunday.
Billy Roberts, 65, and his mother, Anna Roberts, 89, who used a wheelchair, died early Sunday in their third-floor apartment at 327 E. 93rd St., officials said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but fire officials said it does not appear to be suspicious.
Billy Roberts was remembered by neighbors as a devoted son.
"He took care of his mother," said Mike Evangelista, 57, a super for the neighboring building.
"He was really a very nice guy. ... He was a good guy."
The blaze was quickly brought under control and mostly contained to the apartment the Roberts family rented in the five-story brick-and-brownstone building.
Neighbor Dan Guertin, 35, who lives two stories above the Roberts' apartment, said the flat was left remarkably intact.
"His apartment has some smoke damage, but it didn't look that bad," Guertin said.
Neighbors in the building, which contains a mix of co-ops and rentals, said the Roberts' apartment was one of the few remaining rent-regulated units. Billy Roberts often complained that the landlord wanted him and his mother out, neighbors said.
"My first thought when I saw the fire trucks was that something had happened to Billy," said neighbor Leroy Washington.
"The only thing he ever complained about is they wanted him out. They wanted him out of there and he wouldn't budge."
A phone call to the building's owner was not returned Sunday.
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