A Bronx jury gave the city's Bravest long-delayed justice Wednesday by convicting a building manager and his business partner for the Black Sunday blaze that killed two firefighters.

"Yes!" relatives and friends of Firefighter John Bellew and Lt. Curtis Meyran cried when the verdict was announced.

The wife of Jeffrey Cool - a firefighter who escaped the inferno - hugged a juror.

"You restored my faith that there is justice," said Jill Cool.

Bellew's widow, Eileen, handed reporters a statement saying she's "satisfied" with the convictions of building manager Cesar Rios and his partner.

"I am still shocked, saddened and disappointed by the findings of the jury on Friday to know that two people who are responsible for John's death will not be punished," the mother of four wrote.

She was referring to the earlier acquittals of Rios' tenants, Caridad Coste and Rafael Castillo, for turning their pads into deathtraps.

Rios' jurors were unaware of that verdict, and some were shocked the tenants got off.

"Everything was right there, all the evidence," said juror Wendy Santos. "Every single one of us was shocked. They created a maze in that apartment."

Juror Iris Perez, a teacher, called the first jury's verdict "a crying shame, a slap in the face for the victims."

As for Rios, jurors said even if he was unaware the tenants were trying to squeeze money out of their apartments by illegally subdividing them, he was still responsible.

"The landlord didn't do his job," juror Juan Salas said.

Rios hung his head after he was convicted of two counts of criminal negligent homicide and one of reckless endangerment. He faces up to four years in prison. He remains free on bail and has surrendered his passport.

"Go to hell!" his daughter said as she escorted her dad out.

Also convicted was a limited liability company called 234 E. 178th St. The owner was identified as Leslie Berman. She was not in the courtroom. She faces up to $15,000 in fines.

Rios, 52, escaped conviction on a more serious manslaughter charge that could have sent him to prison for 15 years.

"The details of this case brought to light the grave dangers of illegally subdivided apartments or houses and the threat they pose to residents as well as firefighters," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said.

"We hope [this] verdict offers some comfort to the families of Lt. Curtis Meyran and Firefighter John Bellew."

The acquittals of Coste and Castillo, both 58, outraged firefighters and was an embarrassment for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson.

Three of the four firefighters who survived the inferno - Cool, Brendan Cawley and Eugene Stolowski - were in court to witness Rios' conviction.

"It's not a reason to celebrate because it doesn't bring John or Curt back," Cawley said.

Bellew, 37, and Meyran, 46, were killed on Jan. 23, 2005, when they were cornered by raging flames in a room with no fire escape. With no way out, they jumped from a fourth-floor window - to their deaths.

dblock@nydailynews.com

With Sarah R. Kaufman