BY THE VILLAGE SUN | A two-alarm blaze on Monday afternoon tore through the Essex Card Shop on Avenue A between Third and Fourth Streets.
Firefighters were able to bring the inferno under control within about an hour, but not before the store had been totaled.
Fire under control. Not looking great for card shop :-/. Where @AllieRyanNYC bought supplies for City Council run 🙁 Scary after yesterday Bronx space heater fire #eastvillage @evgrieve @TheVillageSun pic.twitter.com/iwNHuHBpSR
— THANKS2allWhoVotedALLIERYAN🗳 (@ChrisRyanAction) January 10, 2022
Two firefighters were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
According to reports, Jayant Patel, the store’s manager, said the blaze was sparked in the back of the place, possibly in or near the bathroom. A fire marshal will determine the cause.
Essex Card Shop was a local go-to spot for stationery, greeting cards, office, packing and school supplies, toys and more.
The store is a ground-floor commercial tenant of Ageloff Towers, a 12-story, 100-apartment co-op building on the west side of Avenue A.
EV Grieve reported that Saba Aslam, the daughter of the store’s owner, Muhammad Aslam, has started a GoFundMe campaign to help Essex Card Shop rebuild from the disaster.
Incredible to read this terrible news just as I was about to leave my apartment for a jaunt over there to buy an N-95 mask and one of the beautiful blank little books, with great colored covers, that I regularly get there and use as a personal journal. This store carries “everything”! Sweet people too! I will make a donation to their “go fund me” and urge all who can to join me. We must get them back!!