Saturday, December 5, 2020

Updating: Fire engulfs southeast corner of 7th Street and 2nd Avenue; Middle Collegiate Church destroyed

Updated 11 a.m and 2 p.m. The FDNY is investigating the cause of the fire. There are published reports that four firefighters suffered minor injuries. This link has reaction from Middle Collegiate Church officials. Here's a statement from local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera... and an update from the FDNY.

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The FDNY is responding to a four-alarm (now five) fire at the southeast corner of Seventh Street and Second Avenue ... early reports (the first came in at 4:30 a.m.) is that the fire has destroyed the currently vacant 48 E. Seventh St. — the site of another blaze back in February. 

Early reports indicate that the fire has spread to the neighboring Middle Collegiate Church... no injuries have been reported... ... other videos show the church engulfed in flames... Check back for more updates... 

Top photo by EVG reader 2ndAvenueSilverPanther

Updated 9 a.m. 

Back from the scene... the fire is under control... and now you can begin to see the extent of the damage...
Updated 10 a.m. A 7th Street neighbor shared these photos...
... and from Alexander Romanovich...
Updated 10:15 a.m. There are now concerns that the church, erected in 1891, may not stand...

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

NO!!!! Please keep posting updates.

Anonymous said...

How does a vacant building catch on fire?

OlympiasEpiriot said...

Electrical fire, probably

MLM said...

maybe vandalism, maybe landlord lightning

Pinch said...

Possibly the vacant building was actually not vacant after all.

Anonymous said...

Hi 8:41a.m., How does a vacant building catch fire? same thing happened here to this historically landmarked synagogue Beth Hamedrash Hagadol on Broome St. We watched it blazing for at least 30 minutes before fire fighters (from a few blocks away) showed up.
https://patch.com/new-york/lower-east-side-chinatown/lower-east-side-fire-breaks-out-synagogue

This is the 30-Story Behemoth Replacing Beth Hamedrash Hagadol
https://www.boweryboogie.com/2019/03/this-is-the-30-story-behemoth-replacing-beth-hamedrash-hagadol/

Ade said...

Fire moves in mysterious ways

Anonymous said...

Hey 9:41 AM, did you call in the synagogue fire or just "watch it blazing for 30 minutes"? seems unlikely.

Anonymous said...


Re: Beth Hamedrash Hagadol synagogue fire
http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/tag/beth-hamedrash-hagadol
"The 1850 synagogue building (originally a church) suffered from years of neglect before it was destroyed by an arson fire in May of 2017. The building, a New York City landmark, was home to the oldest Russian Orthodox Jewish congregation in the United States.

While a teenager was arrested in connection with the fire, he was later released and authorities never provided any further information to the community about the loss of one of the neighborhood’s most significant historic buildings."

Anonymous said...

This is just HORRIBLE...

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness there were no injuries or deaths. Thank goodness the fire department was there to stop further spread to adjacent buildings. So sad to see that these things can happen. A special prayer for the church that was a victim of the blaze. I had a little flashback the East 7th Street gas explosion fire of 2015 that occurred just across Second Avenue from this fire.

Beacon, NY said...

It could be of vandalism or maybe because of another sinister act.

This street corner where the fire was blazing is diagonally across from another corner that suffered a deadly gas explosion a few years ago. Now a completed condoplex known as 45 E.7th St that sits there waiting for incoming tenants.

noble neolani said...

I am curious that the tenement building was completely empty of tenants. Was the building being gut renovated and being turned into a condo? Possible explanation could be a squatter lit a fire to keep warm, what a disaster.

Giovanni said...

This feels like our Notre Dame moment. We will rebuild, but the loss is still painful, especially in this worst year of the 21st century (so far). My family has had such wonderful times at this church, and at the annual street fair where they set up a music stage where people come out to dance in the streets. It’s hard to believe that his block has lost three beloved places in the past year, Middle Collegiate Church, Cafe Mocha and Via Della Pace, where I have some of my best memories of living in the city. The people who run these paces are among the best and most generous people this neighborhood has ever had. I thank them for the generous gifts of service and good times which they gave us all through they years, and pledge to support them as they rebuild.

david said...

10:14 am post.Please this has zero to do with Russian Church.Yes sad that any place burns down but please do not compare 2 different fires to one another

Anonymous said...

Yes. The explosion lots were eventually sold for $9.1 million.

Anonymous said...

Of course the corner will be rebuilt to luxury-surveillance specifications. The church gets a basement space out of the deal. LIke Donnell Library.

Laura Goggin said...

This is devastating. I'm glad no one was hurt, but I'm heartbroken to wake up to this. That area has suffered so much.

Anonymous said...

Hi 10:13a.m. - Yes of course! Numerous people called 911 about that synagogue fire it was a busy time of day and no one in the neighborhood could believe how long it had burned before fire trucks arrived.

Anonymous said...

Woken at 5 by smoke, one building between burning church and mine. Nothing like panicking stuffing things in bags trying to figure out what you would need to survive a fire. Fortunately under control by 7.

Anonymous said...

This is the same building that burned in February 2020 that closed Via Della Pace and Cafe Mocha. Im not certain, but it may have been vacant since that fire.

Andy on 7 said...

That building had asbestos and I believe I remember there were notices posted. Fibers may be in the air today, best to avoid the area while things aren't stable.
Looks like they had been approved to work on the gas and plumbing: BIN# 1006082 in the DOB NOW public portal.

Anonymous said...

Thankfully it was pouring out, the fire was throwing out huge embers towards all of the neighboring buildings.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this reporting. Do we know what will happen to the corner lot and/or the church once the buildings have been cleared?