by DAVID CRUZ

The charcoal scent still lingers along a stretch of small businesses on East Burnside Avenue just a week and a half after a three-alarm fire damaged them. Crews have since erected a scaffold, while police from the 46th Precinct have set up a barricade, fencing off the property from pedestrians and any would-be squatters. Passersby assess the rubble at some stores, staring pitifully at some of the establishments that have been gutted. 

Across the street is Councilman Fernando Cabrera’s office. Cabrera, of the 14th Council District, convened a meeting exclusively for affected merchants on March 28. They connected with several city agencies just as a sobering thought set in–merchants will have to wait for months before feeling a sense of normalcy.

Raging Fire
The fire touched off at the corner of East Burnside and Walton avenues on Sunday morning, March 23. The line of stores, comprised of a 99 cent, cell phone, meat market, farmers market, Radio Shack, Amalgamated Bank, and furniture business suffered thousands of dollars in damage. The Radio Shack, and furniture establishment were spared, though they experienced several days of outages. The Amalgamated Bank fared the best, thanks to a backup generator to keep business going.

But as far as Cabrera sees it, the sight is an “eyesore” for the financial epicenter of Mt. Hope, where jobs are critical to the working poor in the area. “They’re not sure when they’re going to be able to start their jobs,” said Cabrera.

Business Recovery
The short term and long term effects are prevalent. The short term involves business owners haggling Con Edison, the utility company, to restore power. Utility crews have canvassed the fire- swept street, but to Jeffrey Katz, it’s not enough. Katz is the owner of the property, staying in his family’s name for 60 years.

Outside, Katz scrambled back and forth between stores, speaking to plumbers, electricians and laborers. At the meeting, Katz had a brief exchange with Bill White, a representative from Con Edison. Service restoration has been a slow process, despite Katz having cleared some hurdles mandated by Con Edison.

“What I’m trying to do is try and expedite this because there’s two businesses that really were not affected by the fire and they just need their electric service turned on. And again the Department of Buildings inspected this and really it’s simply just turning on that electrical service,” said Katz.

But in bureaucratic fashion, White told Katz to “call me on Monday” to see whether the utility’s Energy Services Department can review the matter. As of press time, it was unclear whether that took place. Cabrera interjected on behalf of the property owner and store owners, telling White that the merchants have already lost a week’s worth of business.

“Every week matters,” said Cabrera. “They don’t get subsidies, they still have to pay rent. It’s just all the pressure. People are going to walk into a place that’s dark and scary.”

Khalid Omar, the owner of Burnside Furniture, a store which sustained damaged the least, is at a financial loss. He especially pointed out this time of the year, tax season, as when business picks up. Tax returns often inspire some foot traffic into his store. “And the landlord of course wants his rent on time so they don’t care about the damages,” said Omar. “But this is New York.”  

Wrangling With Insurance
But the long term is arguably the most problematic. Each small business will begin the lumbering process of wrangling with insurance companies to determine how much is owed. An assessor is likely the first step, which would sift through the rubble for the most damaged, such as the 99 cent store owned by John Wang. Wang, an Asian native, had purchased the store three months ago, seeing no profit.

“With all this going, we want to see what kind of options we have,” said David, his interpreter.

Still, pursuing an insurance payout is perhaps the best recourse, said Bernadette Nation, a representative with the city’s Small Business Services. Nation, who’s dealt with small business disasters in the borough, admits that navigating the bureaucracy is perhaps the most daunting. It’s a more pragmatic reason to work with an insurer to assess the damage and file a claim.

“You’re going to need that resource to help you with recovering from this disaster,” said Nation, exhorting merchants to heed the advice. She did assure merchants that she will remain on top of the recovery efforts. But insurance payouts can take months since fire investigators are required to offer a cause of a fire before insurers can move forward. At this point, it’s unclear what caused the three-alarm blaze. Nation did give options.

“In that instance we put in a request for a fire report, even if it’s not ready yet because they’re still investigating” said Nation. “We put in that request. So as soon as it’s ready, they send us a copy and we will get that copy to you because that will expedite or accelerate your insurance claim.”

Business owners could only qualify for small business loans, often requiring the help of an attorney, a reason why lawyers for Bronx Legal Services, who were present at the meeting, would offer pro bono services when reviewing legal paperwork.

With no option to qualify for grants, merchants qualify for loans from the state Department of Financial Services or the Bronx Overall Development Corporation. They offer borrowers to take out loans through Bethex Federal Credit Union or the Business Initiative Corporation of New York. Documentation is required.

Looking Ahead
Though Mamadu Dommo, owner of Tudouga Wireless, lost several thousand dollars worth of items, he plans on rebuilding again. He has his sights now on a different location, thanking God for being far removed from his store when the fire raged.

Cabrera, realizing the struggles pitted on small businesses, sensed that some of these merchants have a long way to go. “You don’t own the business,” he said. “The business owns you.