It’s been more than four months since a 5-alarm fire ripped through a popular Bainbridge Avenue commercial strip on Halloween. 

The lot, on Bainbriudge Avenue near 204th Street, remains a pile of ash and rubble and a boarded-up blight in the middle of a once-thriving commercial strip. But some of the businesses affected are slowly but surely coming back to life – some nearby, others in different zip codes. Others may never make it back.

More than a dozen stores, between East 205th and East 206th streets, were involved in the fire, which investigators have yet to determine the cause of. An even 10 businesses were completely destroyed and many of them were uninsured.

Some like the Bainbridge Fish Market, which reopened four weeks ago under the name 7’s Fish Market, were fortunate enough to find an open storefront nearby.

“So far it’s been a little slow, but we’re getting there,” said Brian Park, an employee at the neighborhood’s only fish market.

The fish market was located at 3095 Bainbridge Ave., but after the fire it moved up the block, to 3123, where Nelson’s Restaurant used to be.

Nelson Fernandez, the owner of Nelson’s Restaurant, which was damaged but not completely destroyed, said he has no immediate plans to reopen his business.

“I found a job at a friend’s restaurant and I just don’t want to deal with the whole process of starting over,” Fernandez said.

The owner of El Diamante, Francisco Diaz, is taking a different approach. He is vehemently trying to find a location to reopen.

“I would like to stay in the Bronx, and in Norwood, but I don’t know,” Diaz said. “We’re shopping around and have looked at places in Manhattan and Brooklyn also. It’s a long, tough process.”

The ZNS Realty Corp. was completely destroyed but managed to find a space to move into directly across the street and kitty corner from their old location, at 279 E. 204th St.

Farther down the block, after Bainbridge morphs into East 204th Street, the L&M European Mini Market can now be found. They opened back up in January, at 371 E. 204th St.

Another one of the businesses that was completely destroyed was the Bainbridge Bakery, which had been a pillar in the community for years. A previous fire underneath the bakery’s floor last April had caused the store to shut down in the first place. The Mirdita family had renovated the space completely and they were on the verge of reopening when the Halloween fire hit.

Sometime later this year the bakery will reopen, they say, but it will be on Williamsbridge Road, near Pelham Parkway. 

Yasmin’s Barbershop had irreparable damages as well and was forced to relocate outside of the Bronx. Where Yasmin’s once stood is a cardboard sign that gives Yasmin’s cell phone number.
For the past two and a half months, Yasmin’s has been operating out of Yonkers at 647 McLean Ave.

“Many of our customers from Bainbridge Avenue are making the trip up here to get their hair cut,” said owner Yasmin Vekteseic, who said he had to reapply for his NY State Beauty Enhancement License.

The Hillside Meat Market suffered little damage during the fire and was lucky enough to save most of its perishable items.

“Things slowed down a little bit after the holidays but that’s nothing new,” said James Cronin who works there. “Right now I’d say we’re doing about the same as we do every year at this time.”

Three weeks after the fire, La Mexicana Grocery reopened in the same location. They suffered only minor damage that was repaired quickly. “Business was very slow in the beginning,” said Kelby Zactek, the son of the grocery’s owner. “We’re just now starting to get back to normal.”

Shahjalal Grocery also suffered little damage and was only closed for a few days after the fire as well.

The Gift and Wireless store was assisted by the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and were able to restore electrical services within several days of the fire.

“Some of the businesses were completely destroyed, so it can be a traumatic experience for an owner,” said Christina Shapiro, the assistant commissioner of SBS. “As time goes by we expect that some of those owners will reach out to us for assistance.”

Dunkin Donuts, however, wasn’t so lucky. The business owner is currently trying to obtain an Incident Report from the FDNY for insurance purposes, Shapiro said.