Reader report: Small fire temporarily KOs Tuome on East 5th Street

Yesterday morning, the FDNY reported to a fire at 540 E. Fifth St. (The address was actually 536.)

MAN ALL HANDS 540 E 5 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 1ST FLR,

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 29, 2015

[Photo via @salim]

The FDNY gave the all clear after 30 minutes … however, according to a resident in the building, there was some damage to the kitchen at Tuome, the well-regarded restaurant that opened last August.

Per the resident: "Tuome is gone for at least a week, maybe more. It was an oil fire from their kitchen that had started as early as 7am when I smelled it from upstairs."

The restaurant was closed last night during normal business hours. We weren't able to track down anyone to verify the length of the closure. There isn't any mention of the fire on the Tuome website or social media properties.

The only noticeable remainder from the fire on the outside is…

@evgrieve building and street calm now. A little damage to the vault at tuome: pic.twitter.com/WoCEIUU3Iw

— Salim (@salim) March 29, 2015

Minca Ramen Factory, which shares the address, was open per usual yesterday.

Another fire in the East Village

There was a fire yesterday afternoon at 30 Avenue B in a top-floor apartment between Second Street and Third Street. Reader/blogger Suzy at The byrds are singing blue sent along the following video...



No report just yet on the cause of fire. A Curbed tipster wrote, "It appears that no one was hurt in the 4 alarm blaze thanks to the Fire Department's speedy response (they were on the scene within 4 minutes)."

This comes on the heels of a nearby fire on March 12...this blaze occurred at 215 E. Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. Bob Arihood was on the scene and filed a report. (Be sure to read the comments to his post.) There are some other photos from this fire here at Flickr.

Sign of Fire & Water on 7th Street

Interior renovations continue over at 111 E. Seventh St., where East Village-based restaurateur Ravi DeRossi is expanding his vegan empire with Fire & Water here between Avenue A and First Avenue.

As Eater reported back in May, DeRossi will "veganize two cuisines at once — sushi and dim sum" with Fire & Water. The restaurant, next door to his Lady Bird tapas cafe, will feature a Japanese sushi counter with 16 seats as well as a Chinese dim sum cart service in a 36-seat section.

Representation of the Fire portion of the place arrived on the front window last week...





No word on a projected opening just yet.

This address has been a retail space in recent years — a showroom for furniture designer Todd Hase for one year and the Village Style Vintage Shop before that.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Ravi DeRossi bringing Fire & Water to 7th Street

Beer and wine notice for Fire & Water on 7th Street

Report: Former NYU student paralyzed in fall from 2nd Avenue building awarded $29 million in suit

A former NYU student, who was paralyzed after a fall from a fire escape at 82 Second Ave. in 2008, won a $29 million verdict in court this week.

The Post has the details:

Anastasia “Sasha” Klupchak, who was an honors student and varsity soccer player, is guaranteed the $29 million from the building owner East Village Associates after her lawyer struck an unusual deal with defense counsel on Monday.

Called a “high low settlement” the parties agreed that if the jury came back with a verdict that was less than $13 million, the defense would pay $13 million; but if they arrived at a figure over $29 million, the landlord would cough up $29 million.

The pre-verdict deal means the award cannot be appealed.

Klupchak, 22 at the time in 2008, was visiting a friend at 82 Second Ave. between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. She and her friend went out on the fire escape to smoke around midnight. When attempting to re-enter the apartment, "she fell through an unguarded opening in the fire escape platform." The 12-foot fall left her paralyzed from the waist down.

The landlord at the time, East Village Associates, was found liable "because a 1949 law prohibited the type of fire escape on the building." One of the six jurors found that Klupchak​ ​"was at least partially responsible for her injuries." She had been drinking on the evening of her fall, and the landlord's attorney said "that she treated the fire escape like a balcony instead of an emergency escape route."

Her attorney, Thomas Moore, noted that there was no provision in the lease that said tenants couldn’t hang out on the fire escape. He also got the landlord, Bernard McElhone of East Village Associates, to admit under cross examination that “tens of thousands of New Yorkers regularly” hang out on the structures.

Klupchak, who went on to pursue a Ph.D. in film studies at Emory, now teaches at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.

As for the building, Icon Realty bought the property from East Village Associates in January 2013 for $3.1 million. Icon flipped the building in late 2015 to a South Carolina-based investor for $10.9 million.

“She cried with joy and [thanks]. She just kept saying, ‘I don’t believe it'” https://t.co/5FQCDjZFz6

— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) March 8, 2017

Google Street View image from 2008

Updating: Fire reported on the rooftop at Kiehl's on 3rd Avenue

MAN ALL HANDS 109 3RD AVE, MIXED OCCUPANCY FIRE ON THE ROOF,

— FDNY (@FDNY) August 27, 2015

The address is Third Avenue at East 13th Street. In the building that houses Kiehl's. The rooftop features the cottage-style penthouse.


[EVG file photo]

Fire on 13th & 3rd. NYFD handling it. Hope no one is hurt. pic.twitter.com/MMblm6oU40

— Connor Scalleat (@connorscalleat) August 27, 2015

Here's a photo from 4 p.m. via William Klayer...



Updated 4:07

That nice EV penthouse on 13th St. & 3rd Ave. that was just sold is on fire! @evgrieve #eastvillage #fdny pic.twitter.com/5walmtAa44

— urban myths, legends (@urbanmyths) August 27, 2015

4:09





4:33

Via EVG reader Justin, who is at the scene: "Hard to know for sure, but it the FDNY seemed to have it under control quite well. Dozens of firefighters on the ground standing by, a couple on the ladder/bucket, and maybe only 10 on the roof. Seemed like routine work for them. It's mostly out now; no flames visible anymore."

And here's a photo via Justin from just after 4...



4:40

MAN ALL HANDS 203 E 13TH ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON THE ROOF, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) August 27, 2015

4:41

Looks like the flames are out at the @Kiehl's building and #fdny is working on hot spots. cc @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/NgEmBQerV1

— Barry Loudis (@barryloudis) August 27, 2015

5:39

The FDNY told CBS 2 that there weren't any injuries. There's no word yet on the cause of the fire.

The penthouse cottage was in contract, according to Curbed. The asking price had been $4.4 million.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Live in tranquil cottages overlooking … 3rd Avenue (but still)

Spring into a new season tonight with the 10th annual Zoroastrian fire jumping event

[Photo from 2017 by Ryan John Lee]

Tonight marks the 10th Annual Zoroastrian Fire Jumping Event ... taking place from 6:30 to 8:30 in the Firemen's Memorial Garden, 358 E. Eighth St. between Avenue C and Avenue D. Updated 1:30 p.m.: The event will now take once place again at La Plaza Cultural on Ninth Street and Avenue C.

Here's a recap via the EVG inbox...

Jumping over fire is a symbolic gesture to start a fresh new year. This tradition is celebrated for ringing in the Persian New Year and has been celebrated since at least 1700 BCE of the early Zoroastrian era. There will be music, dancing and snacks; wear your best fire-proof pants.

The Rude Mechanical Orchestra will also be playing.

The event is in a different location this year with the new-fence installation underway at La Plaza Cultural Community Garden on Avenue C and Ninth Street.

I reached out to Simin Farkhondeh, a community activist and professor at the School of Visual Arts, who has choreographed and produced the event since its inception here. I started by asking her if the new location might pose any addition challenges. She also provided more background as well as her fire-jumping experiences growing up in her native Iran...

For me, this event is very spontaneous each year. It comes together because the community loves it. The very first time I did it was 2010 and people came to the garden, helped make the fires and we jumped and had a wonderfully freeing time doing it.

This year will be like every year and the change of space should not impact the experience. We strive to make it a powerful and fun and safe event.

It will be the 10th time I've worked on having this spiritually elevating, spring welcoming event. The way I experienced it in my youth, in Iran, was as a spontaneous event that the community felt necessary to do to welcome and get ready for spring. It was done without permits from any government entity or such. We would go out into the street and community members would gather tumbleweed and build fire's together. Then we would jump over them.

On my street, we had about 15 fires, from the entry of our street, down to the end of it. All the neighbors would come out. It was an energizing, freeing experience and community building, and that spirit is what I've tried to preserve each year.

It is clear that this exhilarating event speaks to people not only who come from the Zoroastrian tradition but also brings together folks from across the spectrum of cultures. What binds us is the connection to the earth and the elements.

As in past years, many people and groups are helping ... The folks from the Fireman's Garden, who have been at our event and cherish it, have generously offered their garden to us. A lot of expats from the various Middle-Eastern communities, including Armenians, Iranians and Afghans, are going to be there as well as the folks from MoRUS and Time's UP, who in the past two years have helped a great deal to make this happen.

As in the past years, the event is organized to be a lot of fun, but also safe for all members of the community, especially children and families. As in every year, I plan to have the customary dried fruit and nuts available for people to enjoy. Since about five years now, there also has been a band present at some point of the evening, so we can dance and be merry after jumping the fires and cleansing our souls from the winter blues and from last year's troubles.

Wednesday, March 20, is the vernal equinox, which marks the beginning of spring and Nowruz or New Year for people of Iran, Afghanistan and other places. We will be making ourselves ready for that.

The remains of the fire-damaged Middle Church structure have been removed

Photo by Steven 

This morning, workers finished removing the rest of the sidewalk bridge from the SE corner of Seventh Street and Second Avenue, marking the end of the demolition on the Middle Collegiate Church property.

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church, previously told us this was expected to be a two-to-three-month job. It turned out to be about a month and a half, as work started on Nov. 20.

Lewis also explained that it would be a combination demolition-salvage operation. Workers sifted through the remains of the building, initially completed in 1892, to save any of the limestone and ironwork for use in the new sanctuary that will eventually rise on the property. (We will post some of the in-progress photos next week.)

As previously reported, church leaders said they had to remove what remained on the property within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. According to a report commissioned by the church, the culmination of an 18-month review, there was too much damage to the existing structure to integrate it into Middle Collegiate's new home, that it wouldn't withstand a full-scale rebuild on the property. 

The church structure was destroyed during a six-alarm fire early morning on Dec. 5, 2020. The fire reportedly started inside 48 E. Seventh St., the five-story residential building that once stood on this corner. FDNY officials blamed faulty wiring at the under-renovation No. 48 and said the fire had been deemed "non-suspicious." 

By December 2024, officials hope to create a new worshiping space for up to 225 people in a two-story structure adjacent to the church and their property at 50 E. Seventh St.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Workers prepping to remove the remains of the fire-damaged façade at Middle Collegiate Church

• The remaining structure of the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church will be demolished

Repost: When we almost lost St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery to a fire

The following post first appeared here on July 27, 2012…

---

[Photo via]

On July 27, 1978, a fire nearly destroyed the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, long a focal point of the community. At the time of the blaze, workers were nearly done with a $500,000 restoration of the historic church on Second Avenue and East 10th Street.

According to an account by Tom Sotor in the East Side Express:

The fire began when a workman's welding instrument ignited a section of the timber cornice, and from there the blaze spread rapidly. "Smoke was pouring out of the hell tower when we arrived," recalls one of the first firefighters on the scene. "I said to myself, 'This ceiling's going to go.' And sure as hell, there was a partial collapse." The rear section of the 50-foot high peaked roof collapsed a half-hour after the fire began.

The 75 firefighters involved with the three-alarm blaze Were faced with many other problems as well. A six-foot iron fence that surrounded the church and a graveyard on one side prevented the companies from utilizing anything but portable equipment. Consequently, a tower ladder had to be employed to spray the front and rear, while the sides of the church remained practically unassailable.

There was also danger of the 150-foot steeple collapsing. "We kept an eye on the steeple'supports," explains John J. Moffatt, the commander in charge of the fire. "If it fell, we would have had a lot of injuries."

There weren't any reported injuries... though the fire caused major damage to the church, including the loss of the roof and nine of the 23 stained-glass windows.

[Via East Side Express]

The Citizens to Save St Mark's was founded to raise funds for its reconstruction ... supervised by architect Harold Edelman. The restoration was completed in 1986, with new stained-glass windows designed by Edelman, who personally supervised the entire project, according to his obit in the Times from 1999.

And a little snippet of the history via the Church website:

The St. Mark’s Church and its yards are just a few reminders of the once vast “bouwerie,” or Dutch plantation, which Peter Stuyvesant, governor of New Amsterdam purchased in 1651 from the Dutch West India Company. When Stuyvesant died in 1672, his body was interred in a vault under the family chapel he’d had built in 1660. In 1793, Stuyvesant’s great-grandson, Petrus Stuyvesant, donated the chapel property to the Episcopal Church with the stipulation that a new chapel be erected and on April 25, 1795, the cornerstone of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery was laid.

Report: Fire on E. 2nd St. sends 4 residents to hospital

An early-morning fire on East Second Street near Avenue C left five residents with minor injuries, according to DNAinfo.

The fire started shortly before 4 a.m. on the top floor of 280 E. Second Street, per the FDNY. (DNAinfo lists the address at 264 E. Second St.) The FDNY had the blaze under control within 40 minutes.

MAN ALL HANDS 280 EAST 2ND STREET, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON ROOF,
— FDNY (@FDNY) October 3, 2013

MAN ALL HANDS 280 EAST 2ND STREET, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON TOP FLR, UNDER CONTROL
— FDNY (@FDNY) October 3, 2013

DNAinfo reports that four people went to local hospitals with minor injuries. A fifth person apparently "refused medical attention at the scene."

The FDNY is investigating the cause of the fire.

Anyone with more information?

[Updated] 2 reports of fires today

• 219 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street. A fire broke out in the rear of the storefront this afternoon here that houses Revision Lounge. (Thanks to EVG reader @MerMerJ for the photos!)



According to Patch, about 12 units and more than 60 firefighters responded to the scene, where they had it under control in 45 minutes. One firefighter reportedly suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Updated:

It's bad. The patio is destroyed and the back of the lounge has major damage. No one in building was hurt. Smoke is dissipating. Power is back on.

— Revision Lounge (@Revisionlounge) March 19, 2019

-----

• 340 E. 13th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. There were reports of a fire in an fifth-floor apartment here tonight on this block...

MAN ALL HANDS 340 E 13 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 5TH FLR,

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) March 18, 2019

MAN ALL HANDS 340 E 13 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 5TH FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) March 19, 2019

Not much information at the moment about the fire ... here are some reader photos...


[Peter M./East Village]


[Peter M./East Village]

Updated:

EVG reader Jen Pace shared this footage...

When we almost lost St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery to a fire

[Photo via]

On July 27, 1978, a fire nearly destroyed the St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, long a focal point of the community. At the time of the blaze, workers were nearly done with a $500,000 restoration of the historic church on Second Avenue and East 10th Street.

According to an account by Tom Sotor in the East Side Express:

The fire began when a workman's welding instrument ignited a section of the timber cornice, and from there the blaze spread rapidly. "Smoke was pouring out of the hell tower when we arrived," recalls one of the first firefighters on the scene. "I said to myself, 'This ceiling's going to go.' And sure as hell, there was a partial collapse." The rear section of the 50-foot high peaked roof collapsed a half-hour after the fire began.

The 75 firefighters involved with the three-alarm blaze Were faced with many other problems as well. A six-foot iron fence that surrounded the church and a graveyard on one side prevented the companies from utilizing anything but portable equipment. Consequently, a tower ladder had to be employed to spray the front and rear, while the sides of the church remained practically unassailable.

There was also danger of the 150-foot steeple collapsing. "We kept an eye on the steeple'supports," explains John J. Moffatt, the commander in charge of the fire. "If it fell, we would have had a lot of injuries."

There weren't any reported injuries... though the fire caused major damage to the church, including the loss of the roof and nine of the 23 stained-glass windows.

[Via East Side Express]

The Citizens to Save St Mark's was founded to raise funds for its reconstruction ... supervised by architect Harold Edelman. The restoration was completed in 1986, with new stained-glass windows designed by Edelman, who personally supervised the entire project, according to his obit in the Times from 1999.

And a little snippet of the history via the Church website:

The St. Mark’s Church and its yards are just a few reminders of the once vast “bouwerie,” or Dutch plantation, which Peter Stuyvesant, governor of New Amsterdam purchased in 1651 from the Dutch West India Company. When Stuyvesant died in 1672, his body was interred in a vault under the family chapel he’d had built in 1660. In 1793, Stuyvesant’s great-grandson, Petrus Stuyvesant, donated the chapel property to the Episcopal Church with the stipulation that a new chapel be erected and on April 25, 1795, the cornerstone of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery was laid.

[Updated] Report of a fire at 410 E. 6th St.

The FDNY is out in full force in response to a fire at 610 E. Sixth St. at First Avenue in the Village View complex… the fire is reportedly in a 6th-floor apartment...

MAN ALL HANDS 410 EAST 6TH ST, FIRE ON 6TH FL,

— FDNY (@FDNY) July 19, 2015

… and via a reader…



Updated 1:51 p.m.

MAN ALL HANDS 410 EAST 6TH ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 6TH FL, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) July 19, 2015

Updated 2:08 p.m.

We are unaware of any reports of injuries. @GregJKrieg was on the scene and posted photos of firefighters caring for a female pit bull from the building. (Not sure if the dog was in the apartment with the fire.) The dog was limp (but breathing) when firefighters removed her from the building…





After giving her water and oxygen … and applying ice packs…

She's licking at firefighters now and moving around a bunch. pic.twitter.com/s24Ojtgzb6

— Greg Krieg (@GregJKrieg) July 19, 2015

Possible delay in emergency responses today

We'll periodically have information on local fire companies that service, in part, the East Village ... including when they are closed for periods of time...

The following companies located in the East Village OR that respond to emergencies in the East Village will be on Building Inspection at the following times today (and every Tuesday):

E-5, E-15, E-28 — 10 AM-1 PM.
L-9, E-55, E-9 — 1 PM-4 PM.

Also:

Ladder 20, located in on Lafayette Street, but responds to emergencies in parts of the East Village, will be CLOSED today from 12:30 PM-4:30 PM due to training at the Fire Academy on Randall's Island.

And did you know that two fire companies charged with protecting the East Village were CLOSED for periods of time yesterday?

Engine 9, which is located in Chinatown (Canal Street between Allen Street and Eldridge Street), but responds into the East Village, was CLOSED yesterday from 9 AM until 4 PM for New Apparatus Familiarization Drill at the Fire Academy.

Engine 33, located in the East Village (Great Jones Street), was CLOSED yesterday from 7 PM - 10 PM for Basic Competency Critique at the Fire Academy.

E-28 was CLOSED yesterday as well from 10:45 AM - 3:40PM to pick-up and restock new rig. During this time they were not able to respond to a fire at 535 E. 14th Street, at which they are 2nd Due.

Assessing the fire damage at Essex Card Shop

Photos by Stacie Joy

A fire destroyed the Essex Card Shop at 47 Avenue A late Monday afternoon. Thankfully there weren't any injuries.

And we're starting to get an idea how badly the fire damaged the storefront here between Third Street and Fourth Street.

FDNY officials returned to inspect the space yesterday. EVG contributor Stacie Joy was also there...

Owner Muhammad Aslam and his oldest daughter Mehnaz Noreen, the shop's retail sales manager, were on hand.

The two are awaiting the fire marshal's report to submit to the insurance company to begin the process of reopening. (Longtime manager Jayant "Jay" Patel previously said that he smelled smoke coming from the bathroom in the rear of the store and immediately called the FDNY.) 

The father and daughter wished to express their gratitude for the outpouring of support from the community. (The GoFundMe launched Monday night has exceeded $50,000 to help the family pay for additional expenses and lost income.)

They were particularly heartened by the handmade signs that students from room 205 at the Neighborhood School left for them on the storefront's rolldown gate...

Aslam then inspected the remains of the shop, which opened here in June 2020 after more than 20 years at 39 Avenue A.

A few items, such as a ledger, somehow survived the fire...

And in case you were wondering about the ATM here... a technician arrived to remove the cash...

While Stacie was there, multiple residents stopped by to wish Aslam and his family well ... including the owners of the adjacent businesses, Leti Ruiz of Downtown Yarns and Charles Branstool of Exit9...

We'll keep you posted as Essex Card Shop starts the challenging reopening process. You'll likely see Aslam around. He told Stacie that he "doesn't wish to stay at home."

For further reading on EVG: 

 • Exit9 reopens on Avenue A after fire next door 

• Downtown Yarns hopes to reopen in a week

Report of a fatal fire on 5th Street

Updated 3/7: the fire was at 335 E, Fifth St. The resident was identified as Wendy Schonfeld. Read about her here. 

An early-morning fire on Fifth Street reportedly killed an 80-year-old resident in the building. 

According to @FDNYalerts, the fire broke out on the fourth floor of 335 E. Fifth St., a five-story building between First Avenue and Second Avenue. The report came in at 12:55 a.m., according to @FDNYalerts ... and was deemed under control by 1:24 a.m.

Manhattan All Hands Box 0430, 337 E 5 ST, Multiple Dwelling 'A' Fire, 4TH FLR, Under Control

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) March 5, 2021

At 3:36 a.m., the Citizen app reported the following: "An official update from the FDNY has confirmed that an 80-year-old woman found inside the apartment was declared deceased after EMS transported her to a local hospital."

Three other injuries were reported.

No other information is available at the moment regarding the conditions of the victims or the cause of the fire.

Updated 5 p.m. 

Steven shared this photo... as you can see windows on the fourth and fifth floors have been board up...

Top photo via Citizen  

Fire reported at incoming Pride and Joy BBQ on East Second Street

[This morning around 7]

There were reports of an early-morning fire on East Second Street... from the official FDNY Twitter feed...

MAN ALL HANDS 99 E 2 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON ROOF, UNDER CONTROL
— FDNY (@FDNY) May 8, 2013

The address is part of the incoming Pride and Joy BBQ, where workers continue to renovate the space. The fire apparently started in the East Second Street side part of the complex (most recently home to Bento Burger) where Pride and Joy will operate a take-out/lunchtime cafe during the day and bar at night.

Hayne Suthon, who owns the building, is out of town at the moment. A neighbor told her that she spotted "flames on the roof and tons of trucks. There were at least 15 firefighters on the roof at one point."

The FDNY quickly extinguished the blaze. No word at the moment on injuries or extent of the fire.

Suthon told us via Facebook: "I don't think there's a lot of damage."

Updated 7:20 a.m.

This blurry photo represents the only sign of a fire from the outside ...

Reader report: Apartment fire at 182 Avenue B

The FDNY responded to a late-night (after 2 a.m.) fire at 182 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street. 

EVG reader Joe shared these photos from this morning, showing soot and broken glass on the sidewalk... and a burned-up office chair on the fire escape outside the third-floor apartment where the fire started...

Officials at the scene blamed a lithium battery from an e-bike. (And per the Citizen app: "Firefighters advise that a lithium battery was involved in the fire.") 

There weren't reports of any injuries... and no word on the extent — if any — of damage to the ground-floor tenant, Haile Bistro. 

CBS 2 reported last month that "lithium-ion battery fires are prompting more and more apartment buildings to pull the plug on e-bikes." 

As NY1 reported yesterday: "The FDNY says 66 fires have been started by lithium-ion batteries, killing five people. Last year, the city saw 216 fires and six deaths related to the batteries." 

This past week, two people died after a fire on West 190th Street sparked by a lithium battery.

A basement fire and a lot of firefighters last night on St. Mark's Place

Last night just after 7, the FDNY showed up full force on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue …

MAN ALL HANDS 115 ST MARKS PL, COMMERCIAL FIRE IN BASEMENT, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) October 25, 2014

Greg Nardello, who runs Augers Well at 115 St. Mark's Place, believes that the fire was in the basement next door at No. 117.


[Photo by Greg Nardello]

The FDNY quickly contained the basement fire. Smoke from the blaze momentarily filled Box Kite Coffee at No. 115 with smoke.

"My basement was also completely covered in smoke. Not too much to report except for some minor damages from the fire crews to a few businesses on the block," Nardello told us.

Box Kite was open per usual today. No word on the cause of the basement fire.