FIRE RIPS THROUGH WEST SIDE BUILDING
By Dan Rivoli
Fire fighters put out a blaze that started on the roof of 155 W. 71st St. in the early hours of Aug. 8.
Calls about a fire in the six-story brick building came in to 911 around 4 a.m. The flames escalated into a three-alarm fire. There were 168 firefighters on the scene, eight of whom were taken to Roosevelt Hospital with minor injuries. Read more
Hot Building
By Dan Rivoli
The Fire Department is investigating two fires in the same building, emanating from the same apartment, only months apart. Read more
FIRE AT RESTAURANT
A fire broke out at Sido Falafel & More in the early morning hours of Sunday, Dec. 13.
The fire department got the call at 7:01 a.m. that day and sent 60 fire fighters in 12 units to the restaurant, at 267 Columbus Avenue between West 72nd and 73rd streets. The fire started in the rear of the one-story building and was under control by 7:33 a.m.
A spokesperson at the fire department said the cause is unknown.
Owner Emile Aklen suspects it was an electrical issue because the restaurant was closed for business at the time. His staff spent the next several days cleaning up from the fire and water damage.
Aklen, who also owns a falafel place at 403 Amsterdam Ave. between West 79th and 80th streets, said he hopes his insurance company will quickly assess the damage so the restaurant can reopen.
“It’s regrettable to be closed on the eve of a holiday,” Aklen said. “We’d like to expedite the work to resume operation for people on the West Side who have been loyal to us for 14 years.”
Cursed Corner?
Charred remains are all that’s left of Comida Mercado Fresco Mexican restaurant, which occupied the ground floor of 461 Columbus Ave., at West 82nd Street. A fire tore through the building’s basement on July 13 at around 3 a.m., destroying the months-old Mexican eatery. According to building owner Richard Casanas (pictured), a homeless man first saw the early morning blaze and alerted sleeping residents by yelling outside the building.
“He’s the hero of the day,” said Casanas, who remains hopeful that Comida will return. “Whenever something like this happens I look at it in a positive light, such as creative destruction.”
The owners of Comida, which opened in March, declined to comment. Casanas said he’s hoping to get the place cleaned up quickly.
The corner property has had a string of bad luck, and seems unable to sustain a restaurant tenant. Charlie Palmer’s cheap-chic Kitchen 82, which opened in 2003, was taken over by Irish pub TJ O’Brien in 2006. The pub lasted about a year, and was replaced by Madaleine Mae, a Southern-style grill and breakfast joint, in 2007.
Casanas, for one, thinks future tenants need to focus more on catering to residents, rather than destination diners.
“It is my view that when the right combination of management and concept come in, it will succeed,” he said. “It’s a neighborhood restaurant. You have to create it for the neighborhood first and foremost before you cater to other people.”
Photo by Andrew Schwartz
HOW NOT TO HANDLE A BUILDING FIRE
I can’t fall asleep unless sirens are blaring, passersby are talking way too loud and horns are honking. So it goes for us lifelong New Yorkers.
Recently, however, I was drifting off to the whir of the fire engines many blocks away, and as usual, it drew closer and louder; however, instead of the distress signals fading into the distance again, the sound remained ear-splitting. The swirling lights from the fire trucks combined Read more
