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Around 1:30 a.m. alerts came in about a "fire in a factory/restaurant" on Kent Avenue (map) in Williamsburg. Word is coming in now that the "early morning fire gutted a landmark Northside diner, causing damage to an adjacent arts collective at Kent Avenue and Metropolitan." The establishment suffering extensive damages is the former Miss Williamsburg Diner (more recently 718), with the two-story building next door getting less scathed.
While the diner may be a long time fixture in the neighborhood (even making a cameo in Charlie Kaufman's Synechdoche, New York), the neighboring building known as "Monster Island" has recently drawn crowds through promoter Todd P. It also houses the Live With Animals and Secret Project Robot galleries, Mollusk surf shop, and possibly some band practice spaces.
UPDATE: Todd P tells us, "We survived unscathed, save for a kicked in door and a busted out window on the second floor. No water, fire, or smoke damage, thankfully. Muchas Gracias to the FDNY!"
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I didn't know that Mario the Match was working there? I guess he accidentally bumped into the stove before he locked up for the night. Shame...good thing they were paid up on their policy. And now they can qualify for a development grant:
http://nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/developers/plp.shtml
Because of the fire, you don't have to worry about bringing it up to code or environmental cleanup either. Everything works out in the end.
Smells like lightning of some sort...
Another diner bites the dust.
I was walking home around the time from Hugs, and 3 engines completely blazed by me, I could totally smell the smoke at the Graham Ave stop.
Am I mean for saying that that diner was kinda gross? I gag when i think about the food there.
Okay, I'm probably completely alone in that opinion.
through a stroke of very good luck, Monster Island survived this fire unscathed.
Thanks everyone, especially the FDNY, for your help and your concerns!
Todd
Miss Williamsburg had the tastiest calamari dish I've ever had. It was such a charming joint. RIP
By the way, I love you Todd P! Your shows are awesome and I heard John Denver's "Aspenglow" for the first time between sets at one of your shows. Thanks!
Glad everything turned out ok at Monster Island!
wait a second, when was the time this place was an operational restaurant? Like 4 years ago. RIP? it's been resting for along time dude.
Well, yeah, it's been closed a while. But now it's very closed. I was just reminiscing. Calm down, "dude."
glad I could expose you to my favorite John Denver song. Possibly the only calypso tune about the Rocky Mountains.
I first heard that song myself watching a pledge week John Denver bio on Channel 13. They had what seemed like private lost footage of JD sitting alone on a stool in a cozy living room somewhere, tasteful furnishings all around and snow falling out the window behind, John gently strumming what I found out later was "Aspenglow."
I watched for awhile, kind of tranfixed by the tune and John D's zenlike devotion to it, while the camera pulled back, further and further and further, eventually revealing that the shot was through the exterior glass of a fucking geodesic dome occupied by John Denver and John Denver alone, perched on the side of a snowy mountaintop somewhere, miles away from the camera, presumably some mountaintop in the Rockies near Aspen.
Pretty surreal shit. Beautiful song, glad to share!
They were filming "Rescue Me" at that location earlier in the night... Coincidence?
Who ordered the Chicken Platter 'well-done'?
It's ready.
What a shame but certainly worth the rescue and restoration. Since plans fell through with the Cheyenne Diner in Manhattan .... Perhaps Brooklyn businessman Michael O'Connell can secure the salvage rights and move the diner to Red Hook, Brooklyn for restoration and reopen it on his redevelopment site.
Anyone have Michael contact number?