FDNY officials have not revealed the source of the fire that started at No. 48 early yesterday morning and spread to the church next door. Four firefighters were treated for minor injuries.
The demolition is underway...
Updated 12:45 p.m. Happening now! Demolition of East Village building after massive fire. @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/8xdGK8OG8a
— Gili Getz 🔥 (@giligetz) December 6, 2020
Steven took these photos...
9 comments:
This is too sad and too much. We all have endured a lot of immeasurable pain, frustration and loss during 2020. Now this? My heart breaks for our community.
A cursed intersection
FFS
The whole block all the way up to 7th and Ave A reek of smoke today. Can even still smell it in my apt now :-(
The fire has been popping up all day, probably due to the high winds. Most of the businesses on the block were shut down all day. I only hope they can save the facade of Middle Collegiate Church. They had inspectors up in the biggest cherry picker I’ve ever seen looking at the structure to see if it is stable. What an awful tragedy coming right before Christmas, in this very terrible year. And now it’s time to rebuild.
Questions still . . .
What are the odds of the facade and bell tower staying up? Can the facade and tower be taken apart and saved? (It's stone, right? Maybe on a steel frame?) Is the bell okay?
What was the cause of the fire? (If the power and gas was out in the E. 7th building, it probably wasn't gas or electric. Right?)
What kind of damage is there in the back building/basement/etc.? Is the gallery of paintings of Collegiate abolitionists ash? The church archive?
Is the Women's Prison Association building, the Hooper House, okay?
Yes, the heart of Middle Collegiate is its congregation--and I fully expect MC to rebuild--but losing so much at once is devastating. The building has been slowly renovated over the last 25 years or so and it was generally in very good shape (and certainly used to the fullest!). Hopefully, at least some of the back building survived and some space will be available while the reconstruction gets started.
They just redid the sidewalk in front a couple of weeks ago...
I've been reading that this church housed the New York Liberty Bell, but i can't seem to find any information about the bell itself - does anyone know the history? Apparently it's older than the one in Philadelphia and now no one knows its fate. So sad.
Perhaps a patron will step forward (as was the case in St. Brigid) and rebuild the church.
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