2nd Avenue reopens to traffic; workers remove more of fire-ravaged 48 E. 7th St.

Second Avenue is open again to through traffic below St. Mark's Place... after the fire on Saturday morning, southbound traffic was rerouted across St. Mark's Place to Avenue A. 

For now, one lane ... as well as the floating parking lane and bike lane, are closed off for the work crews to use for access between Sixth Street and St. Mark's Place...

As for the southeast corner at Seventh Street...

Workers have mostly cleared out the rest of what was 48 E. Seventh St., where the six-alarm fire started ...

Looking north from Sixth Street, you almost can't even tell that Middle Collegiate Church suffered such massive damage...

There hasn't been any official word on the cause of the fire... or the fate of the remaining structure at the church.

Derek Berg got this dramatic shot yesterday of two fire marshals outside the church's north-facing wall...

The Williamsburg warehouse fire 4 days later

EVG reader Daniel Root was back in East River Park this afternoon ... where you can see FDNY crews still pumping water onto the smoldering ruins of CitiStorage, a record storage facility, in Williamsburg.

The fire broke out early Saturday morning at 5 N. 11th St. (at Kent Avenue).

Officials reportedly said this afternoon that it might be days before authorities had any information on how the fire started.

According to various published reports, such as NBC New York, the warehouse primarily stored records for more than 100 health care organizations and law firms, according to Recall Holdings, the parent company of CitiStorage.

The Times reported that charred medical records, court transcripts, legal letters, sonograms, bank checks and more — many marked confidential — were found around the neighborhood.

"They're like treasure maps, but with people's personal information all over them," Spencer Bergen, 24, said of the half-charred scraps that he said he had seen strewn around the Williamsburg neighborhood as far inland as Berry Street, several blocks from the warehouse.

The fire required more than 60 units and 275 firefighters to get under control.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Scenes of the 7-alarm fire in Williamsburg from East River Park

Fire shutters the recently opened Gjelina on Bond Street

A fire yesterday just before noon has temporarily shuttered Gjelina, a popular L.A. import that just opened at the start of 2023 at 45 Bond St. 

The FDNY responded to a report of a fire here between the Bowery and Lafayette around 11:30 a.m.

According to the @FDNYalerts account, the fire was in the ductwork between the first and second floor... with firefighters on the scene for several hours before announcing the "under control" ...

Manhattan All Hands Box 0365, 45 BOND ST, COMMERCIAL

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) January 30, 2023

Manhattan All Hands Box 0365, 45 BOND ST, COMMERCIAL, DUCTWORK 1/2 FLR, Under Control

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) January 30, 2023

The Citizen app reported that two firefighters sustained minor injuries during the blaze. No other injuries were reported.

Earlier today, a fire broke out at the recently opened Gjelina. We’re thankful nobody was hurt and want to extend a big thank you to NoHo’s own @FDNY station on Great Jones Street, Engine 33 and Ladder 9 for responding so quickly. #NoHo #NoHoNYC #ExploreNoHo pic.twitter.com/15piR42qsA

— NoHo (@NoHo_NY) January 30, 2023

Gjelina, a vegetable-centric restaurant that opened in Venice, Calif., in 2008, debuted here at the start of the year with a breakfast-lunch service. Grub Street noted that Gjelina was "already Manhattan's hottest lunch." 

The restaurant's Instagram account noted — via its Stories — that it was closed for now...

A look inside the restaurant last evening didn't reveal much, if any, damage — at least from the front.

Week in Grieview

[Signs of fall in Tompkins Square Park]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

Report of injuries during major fire at 188 1st Ave. (Wednesday) ... Watch this drone footage of the fire at 188 1st Ave. (Wednesday) ... After the fire: A look at 188 1st Ave. (Wednesday) ... A look at the fire-damaged Uogashi; plus video of when the fire started at 188 1st Ave. (Friday)

Exclusive: The Boys' Club of New York puts the Harriman Clubhouse on the sales market for $32 million (Friday)

Report: NYU student dies jumping in front of L train at 1st Avenue (Tuesday)

CB2 SLA committee OKs license for new ownership of Great Jones Cafe (Wednesday) ... Petition asks new owners of the Great Jones Cafe to keep the wings on the menu (Friday)

East Village history at the Tompkins Square Library branch this month (Tuesday)

Playground renovations underway in Tompkins Square Park (Monday)

This week's NY See (Thursday)

Liquiteria closing 2nd Avenue outpost after 22 years in business (Monday)

Feltman’s moving away from Theatre 80 on St Mark's Place (Monday)

On 6th Street, the Ukrainian Museum debuting Andy Warhol exhibit this weekend (Friday)

It's October, which also means it's Hitchcocktober (Wednesday)

Why El Jardín del Paraíso is temporarily closed (Tuesday)

Marshalls opens on Houston Street (Thursday)

A look at the coming-soon signage at the Moxy East Village (Thursday) ... and a few Moxy East Village details (Monday)

A note for a bicycle thief (Monday)

Tropic Bowl brings the açaí bowls to 1st Avenue (Monday)

787 Coffee now open on 7th Street (Wednesday)

Milestones for LinkNYC; ongoing concerns about tracking movements (Tuesday)

Here's Mister Paradise (Wednesday)

Full reveal at 363 Lafayette (Monday)

The return of the cowboy on Avenue A (Thursday)

Report: Supreme leasing temp space at 190 Bowery (Wednesday)

The 13th Step loses the 13th on 2nd Avenue (Thursday)

... and flyers/stickers from a tumultuous few weeks...


[1st Street]


[11th Street]


[Avenue A]


[2nd Avenue]


[The Bowery]

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A late-day look at the fire-damaged 131 Avenue A

Photos by Steven

A fire broke out early this morning at 131 Avenue A on the NW corner of St. Mark's Place. 

According to ABC 7, five residents sustained minor injuries while vacating the six-floor building. 

Starbucks was open today for business in the retail spaces, while TabeTomo next door told us that they suffered “substantial damage.”

Next door, Bad Habit hope to be back open tomorrow...

As for the rest of the building, there is a Partial Vacate Order limited to two residences. 

Per the Department of Buildings: 

FIRE HAS CAUSED EXTENSIVE WATER, SMOKE AND FIRE DAMAGE IN APT#1, ALSO FIREFIGHTER OPERATIONS IN APT#7. WINDOWS AND WALLS HAVE BEEN REMOVED LEAVING STRUCTURES OPEN TO THE ELEMENTS. THESE POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS HAVE THEREFORE RENDERED UNSAFE TO OCCUPY. VACATE APT #1 AND 7. EGRESS WAS NOT COMPROMISED. 

Firefighters recovered a lithium-ion battery from a unit, per ABC 7, though fire officials haven't stated that was officially the cause. Another resident mentioned talk of an "electric scooter explosion."

[Updated] Report of a fire at 133 E. 7th St.; Yuca Bar remains closed

[Photo by Shawn Chittle]

There were reports of a fire at 133 E. Seventh St. at Avenue A just before 6 this evening...


[SC]


[Mark Cyr]


[MC]

The FDNY was on it quickly...


[Photo by Perri Silver]


[Reader submitted]


[Reader submitted]


[Photo by Vinny & O]


[V&O]

About 30 minutes after the initial report, the fire was under control, per the FDNY...

MAN ALL HANDS 133 E 7 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 2ND FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 6, 2016

Updated 7:35

The FDNY remains on the scene... Yuca Bar is closed... there's broken glass all over the sidewalk... Avenue A is closed off at St Mark's Place and East Sixth Street... and there's no through traffic on East Seventh Street...





As of this moment, there isn't any information on the cause or extent of the damage...

Updated 9:49 p.m.

Word from the scene is that a candle in an apartment started the fire. There weren't any reports of injuries.

Updated 7:30 a.m.

Here's a look at the East Seventh Street side of the building... firefighters needed to break the windows on the upper floors ...



Updated 4:50 p.m.

Ground-floor tenant Yuca Bar is closed tonight...



The dining room is also empty at the moment. It appears that the restaurant sustained some damages too...



Updated 6:15 p.m.


[Photo this evening by Steven]

Conspiracies: What next for 14th Street and Avenue A?

It didn't take long for the conspiracy theorists to say what IF yesterday's fire turns out to be suspicious ... after all, 14th Street and Avenue A is prime real estate ... and many of the storefronts along this stretch of single-level businesses have been for rent for months and months...

As I noted last summer: "This area on 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B is ripe for development. So when when the 'space available' signs went up last summer (2008)...Hello Marc Jacobs! Hello huge Chase branch!'"



Well... according to the Post, the fire started at Pete's-a-Pizza, where a welder was working on a fire-access door. There, his welding torch apparently set some grease on fire. And that was it.

Anyway, Rainbow took over a big space here last July.




The area here also falls outside the East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning ... Noted one reader, "a nice fat dorm here would solve NYU's missing square footage."

Anyway, I'm not suggesting that anything happened here aside from a terrible, accidental fire that destroyed four local businesses... but, it is something to think about... and we've been around long enough to see the unthinkable happen... luxury hotels on the Bowery? An NYU dorm popping up at the site of a venerable pool hall/concert venue//club?

Meanwhile, I've been told that the owners of Stuyvesant Grocery do have insurance. No word just yet on what their plans are. I meant to add that I hope all the businesses will be able to rebuild and reopen here.

Police officer injured looking for intruder on St. Mark's Place

Bob Arihood shared this report ... as well as the photos... Around 3:30 yesterday afternoon, a resident in an apartment on Seventh Street noticed a man on the fire escape at 126 St Mark's Place building across the backyard. The man broke the window of an upper floor apartment and entered. The Seventh Street resident called the police.



Several NYPD units, including the 9th Precinct commander Deputy Inspector Lehr, arrived on Seventh Street, St Mark's Place and in Tompkins Square Park in response to the call. Officers went to the apartment that had been broken into and also up to the roof above the apartment.

"One investigating officer exited the apartment onto the fire escape and , we were told , slipped on some broken glass and fell through the opening in the fire escape down the fire escape stairs from the 5th floor to the 4th floor . Luckily the officer was able to stop his free fall descent part way down the fire escape stairs ."

Bob said that the officer, far left in glasses, did not appear to be seriously injured beyond some scrapes, cuts and perhaps some bruises, though he was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.



The man who broke into the apartment was gone before the police arrived on the scene.

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

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted this week to allow the demolition of the remains of the fire-damaged Middle Collegiate Church at 112 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

Church leaders made the announcement via Twitter...

INCREDIBLE NEWS! The NYC Landmarks Commission has voted to allow @middlechurch to remove the burnt remains of our facade, so we can rebuild on our historic site.

Truly, God is good. Out of this fire, fierce love is rising.

Make a gift to help us rise: https://t.co/Vkt9D5e9V0

— Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis (@RevJacquiLewis) January 11, 2023

LPC members voted 8-2 in favor of the demolition. 

As previously reported, church leaders said they must remove what remains on the property within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. According to a report commissioned by church leaders, the culmination of an 18-month review, there is 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.

In a November interview with EVG, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister at the Middle Collegiate Church, said they spent $4 million to reinforce, stabilize and weatherproof the façade in the months after the devastating December 2020 fire.

She said that despite these efforts, the façade has deteriorated over time. And then, their engineering report showed that it would be best to remove what was left before building a new church. 

"It felt like something died," Lewis said of hearing this news. "The building burning felt like a death — a big death. This makes me feel heartbroken. It feels like a second loss. But if we let it go, we could get back on site, get back in the space and build something."

Preservation groups, including Village Preservation, had urged the LPC not to grant permission for demolition until further studies could occur. According to Village Preservation: "We don’t believe there is sufficient documentation that alternatives to preserve the historic façade have been fully explored, nor that there is sufficient evidence at this time to justify the permanent and irreversible removal."

Lewis previously stated that she understood the opposition. 

"We relive the fire daily and try to think about what to do with it. It's that kind of grief that just keeps coming in waves," Lewis said. "At some point, two years in, I want to be able to say to my community: We did the very best we could with this. This is not a willy-nilly, hurry-up decision. The engineer says we can't keep it, and we're heartbroken."

No word just yet on the timing of the demolition. 

Meanwhile, Middle Collegiate leaders continue fundraising efforts to rebuild a new church here in the East Village. They are holding services from their temporary home — East End Temple, 245 E. 17th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

EVG photo from May 2022.

Another reader report of a fireworks-related roof fire on Avenue C

The FDNY responded to a report of a fire last night around 9:45 on the southwest corner of Fifth Street and Avenue C... a nearby resident shared these photos...



The cause of the fire is unknown, though the resident suspects it was related to the ongoing illegal firework displays nearby... the reader points out the remains of fireworks in the lights of the fire truck in the photo below...



There wasn't any word of damage to the building, which houses 69 Avenue C Laundromat...



Last Saturday night, people setting off fireworks along Avenue C and neighboring buildings caused a fire on a building rooftop on Fourth Street.

Fireworks-related complaints to 311 and 911 topped 20,000 in 2020, "an unprecedented increase over previous years," Gothamist reported.

The NYPD has started making arrests...

These fireworks won't be set off in your neighborhood thanks to the Intelligence Bureau. Their precise work has led to several arrests and the confiscation of these fireworks.

Not only is this a quality of life issue, fireworks are illegal. pic.twitter.com/iaJpDEA6DC

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 26, 2020

Aerial views of the Essex-Houston Street fire

EV Grieve reader Chris sends along more photos from the street/sewer/manhole/whatever fire currently burning on Essex at Houston...

Even the workers are impressed with the fire... this fellow is either taking photos or texting — or both!

Per Chris: "Fire department seems to be mostly just watching" for the time being...

Update: As of 2:11 or so, Chris notes that the fire is out.

Marking the 113th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire

Today marks the 113th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

As in past years, volunteers have participated in the chalking project (organized by Street Pictures), writing the names and ages of the victims — mostly young women —  in front of the buildings where they lived on the Lower East Side.

The reader photos are from St. Mark's Place (above) and 11th Street...

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the largest industrial disaster in U.S. history ... causing the death of 146 garment workers who either died from the fire or by jumping from the factory windows.

The Triangle Waist Company was located on the northwest corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, just east of Washington Square Park. The Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition website has more details on the tragedy and its legacy.