Flames engulfed Westchester Square in the Bronx on Sunday, destroying 8 small businesses as the store owners watched their livelihood go up in smoke.
"I cry! What am I going to do!" said Mike Andreo, owner of National Coffee Shop. "I've been here for 10 years."
Andreo is one of dozens of store owners and employees who watched their security go up in flames.
The three-alarm blaze started inside Tavern on the Creek around 6 a.m., fire officials said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but is believed to have been due to some electrical work being done at the bar in the last few days.
Within minutes, flames swept across storefronts and it took 150 firefighters hours to get the blaze under control.
"Within five minutes the fire took everything; within five mins it was all too late," said John Jones, a customer at the coffee shop.
There were no reports of any injuries and fire officials said things could have been a lot worst. A four-inch firewall to the left and rear of the bar stopped the flames from spreading.
"We got very very lucky here that there were no injuries, that we could identify its intensity and fight it from a safe standpoint," said Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Scanlon.
Store owners lost everything in the blaze, places like Square Flower Shop, which owner John Kaltsas spent decades trying to build.
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"It's the worst thing that could happen to anybody. As for us we'll see if we can pick up the pieces and do something about it," Kaltsas said.
Others are wondering what they will depend on for survival. "Its the worst worst time to find a job anywhere, I've got two daughters," a waitress at the burned down diner said.
City Councilman James Vacca says he will be working with the store owners to find temporary storefronts so their businesses can continue to thrive.
"In this economy we cannot afford to let them fail," Vacca said.
