A popular Chinese restaurant and at least one other business in Coney Island was damaged in a fire on Wednesday.
The restaurant, located on Mermaid Avenue, required over 100 fire and EMS workers to subdue the flames. Neighbors say they saw massive clouds of dark smoke coming from the roof of the building and that they were heartbroken to find out it was their favorite Chinese food spot.
"This is our community, Im not going to lie this is going to hurt us alot," said Coney Island resident Mylesha Nurkitt. "We all love this Chinese store. I've lived here for 7 years, I'm from Texas and let me tell you something this is the best Chinese food you're ever going to have."
The 99 Cent store, which is located next door, was also damaged from the fire after the FDNY poured water on the roof to put out the blaze.
"A lot of damage here, you see all the floor damage, the roof damage... everything is damaged now," said Fazel Rehman, brother of the owner of the 99 Cent store.
He added that a large shipment of new merchandise they recently received was also damaged in the aftermath of the fire.
