MTR Admiralty Posted May 17, 2009 Share #1 Posted May 17, 2009 On the evening of 14 May 2009, a fire broke out at 109 East Broadway in Chinatown. The building is a mix of retail, commercial and residential. The fire consumed the 5 storey building, causing smoke to billow from all sides. The Chnatown branch of the Hong Kong Supermarket, the oldest Chinese run supermarket in Chinatown, was totally destroyed by the fire. No deaths were reported, however 3 firefighters were in critical condition due to smoke inhalation. The NYPD, NYFD and the OEM closed off Pike Street southbound from Division Street to Henry Street. East Broadway in both directions from Pike Street to Forsyth Street. Bus changes were inevitable. As of 3PM, Friday, 15 may 2009, the entire building collapsed due to weakened supports. The building collapsed inward. M22: All traffic in both directions will run down Madison Street. Eastbound buses should run normal service. Westbound buses will probably turn on St James Place to Worth Street and continue. M9: Majinvegata has better coverage on this line M15: Southbuses will turn on Division Street after Allen Street, then on Forsyth Street to East Broadway. It will then follow the M9 route down St James Place to South Ferry. Now for the photo coverage: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattTrain Posted May 17, 2009 Share #2 Posted May 17, 2009 Hong Kong Supermarket is looking really bad. Sad to know that one of the longest running supermarkets in Chinatown is destroyed in a fire. :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTrainExp Posted May 17, 2009 Share #3 Posted May 17, 2009 What sparked the fire though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTR Admiralty Posted May 17, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted May 17, 2009 Right now, authorities believe it is an electrical fire. The fire was a four degree fire. There was nobody in the residential floors and I doubt it was arson. What is very depressing is the destroyed bed in one of the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlushingExpress Posted May 18, 2009 Share #5 Posted May 18, 2009 quite sad. i remember going here often when i was 5-8 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTR Admiralty Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted May 18, 2009 quite sad. i remember going here often when i was 5-8 years old. LOL, I remember going there everyday when I was a kid. I was entertained by the butchers. The last time I went there was a year ago, when I bought a canteen for my food. My mum went there everyday, she recalled going there the morning of the incident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
error46146 Posted May 19, 2009 Share #7 Posted May 19, 2009 ........damn wasn't that like one of the original hong kong supermarkets?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTR Admiralty Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted May 19, 2009 ........damn wasn't that like one of the original hong kong supermarkets?? This is the original Hong Kong Supermarket. This, I believe, opened in 1994. Another major supermarket is part of the same group as HKS. That one is called Man Cheong Supermarket, which is on Hester and Elizabeth. It recently merged and became HKS as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Sith Posted May 19, 2009 Share #9 Posted May 19, 2009 This is the original Hong Kong Supermarket. This, I believe, opened in 1994. Another major supermarket is part of the same group as HKS. That one is called Man Cheong Supermarket, which is on Hester and Elizabeth. It recently merged and became HKS as well. Correct. Man Cheong's market always smelled funny everytime I went there. I went to the one in East Broadway & Allen to buy their bags of rice, pretty decent price. and lasts for quite a long time! And the fact that the market structure + building above was over 50 years old....the old wood structures makes it very vulnerable and susceptible to the flames, making it a four degree/alarm fire. Its so saddening to see a piece of Chinatown's History to be destroyed in such an unfortunate way, I've lived here for almost 11 years, 7 in Queens, and it sucks to see this gone, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTR Admiralty Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted May 19, 2009 Correct. Man Cheong's market always smelled funny everytime I went there. I went to the one in East Broadway & Allen to buy their bags of rice, pretty decent price. and lasts for quite a long time! And the fact that the market structure + building above was over 50 years old....the old wood structures makes it very vulnerable and susceptible to the flames, making it a four degree/alarm fire. Its so saddening to see a piece of Chinatown's History to be destroyed in such an unfortunate way, I've lived here for almost 11 years, 7 in Queens, and it sucks to see this gone, From my observations of the building, while it stood, there are no windows facing Pike Street. This allows me to conclude that there was a building next to 109 East Broadway. However it was demolished to expand the width of Pike Street. If my hypothesis is correct, this building is not even 50 years old, it may as well be around since the beginning of the century! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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