Bainbridge Avenue business owners rebuild from fire that destroyed Norwood stores
The flames tore through multiple buildings on Bainbridge Avenue between East 204th to East 206th streets last Tuesday morning.
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Last week, a four-alarm fire broke out in Norwood, destroying the storefronts of multiple businesses in the process. Now, those business owners are working to piece everything back together.
MORE: 'I don’t know how we’ll survive': Multiple Norwood businesses damaged in massive fire
The flames tore through multiple buildings on Bainbridge Avenue between East 204th to East 206th streets last Tuesday morning. The block of shops remains boarded up and with the fire still under investigation, the neighborhood is fighting to return to normal.
“It’s really sad, because a lot of the people from the neighborhood… use those stores mainly, especially the meat department and the bakery,” said Alfredo Himenez, the superintendent of 3120 Bainbridge Ave.
According to Mdmamun Bhuiyan, owner of Shahjalal Grocery and Variety Inc., seven businesses containing over 60 employees between them are now shut down, and he’s wondering how people will make ends meet.
Bhuiyan says he remembers when another fire in the area tore through multiple stores in 2009, and says he hasn’t been able to get into his grocery store to get the papers he needs due to the recent fire. The CVS next door remains closed.
“We still have a lot of water damage,” said Muhammad Farooq, store manager for the now-closed CVS. “I don’t know when we can open the building from the fire.”
The community has launched a GoFundMe to help financially support the seven businesses affected by the fire.
News 12 is awaiting responses from the FDNY and the city’s Department of Buildings for more information on the condition of these buildings.
