After devastating Williamsburg fire, displaced tenants and café owners turn to community for support • Brooklyn Paper - Brooklyn Paper

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After a three-alarm fire destroyed a Williamsburg café and severely damaged the apartments around it, restaurant owners and tenants are looking for help as they begin to recover from the blaze. 

The devastating fire broke out at Café Argentino at the corner of Grand and Union streets just before 4 a.m. on Aug. 23 and quickly took over the building, sending tenants scrambling outside. No civilian injuries were reported, but six firefighters were injured as they battled the early-morning blaze.

Café Argentino, on the order of Grand Street and Union Avenue, was destroyed in the Aug. 23 fire, and its owners are hoping to raise enough money to pay their staff as they rebuild and reopen. Photo courtesy Café Argentino/Facebook

Though the fire left the employees of the cafe and the tenants of the apartments above it physically unscathed, the restaurant has been shuttered while its owners try to raise enough money to recover and reopen, and residents left without homes are trying to stay afloat while looking for new residences in a particularly tough rental market.

Cafe owners Cristian and Valerie Herrera are hoping to raise $100,000 to rebuild their business and pay their staff while the restaurant is closed, Cristian wrote on a GoFundMe page. The Herreras “lost everything” in the blaze, he said. 

“It has become a family business where you will find their son Justin working as well as their parents Humberto and Norma,” the fundraising page reads. “The staff also have been committed to the café and are truly like a family. Everyone, including all the staff and family are hurting right now and will feel the impact from this terrible fire.”

Six firefighters were injured in the three-alarm blaze, which displaced several tenants and destroyed the family-owned restaurant Café Argentino. File photo by Lloyd Mitchell

The family “poured all their funds and endless hours of love and hard work” into the restaurant, Cristian said, and now need help to bring the beloved café back to the corner of Union Avenue. In the five days since the fundraiser was launched, nearly 400 people have donated $33,205. 

Leve’ll Cole, who lived in one of the apartments above the restaurant, was woken up by his dog, Nas, in the middle of the night on Aug. 23, Cole shared in a Facebook post. He grabbed the pup and his phone and ran outside, where he and his neighbors watched the fire department fight to extinguish the blaze.

Cole’s home has been destroyed, and he fled the apartment without his clothes or belongings, he shared online. He and Nas are looking for a new place to live and need some help in the meantime, his friend Morgan Burton shared in a GoFundMe he started for Cole.

Williamsburg resident Leve’ll Cole and his dog, Nas, are looking for a new home after their apartment was destroyed in the Aug. 23. fire. Cole fled his apartment with his dog, robe, and phone, he shared on social media. File photo by Lloyd Mitchell

“We are so thankful for his life and safety, but unfortunately the damage left his home in wreckage,” Burton wrote. “Your generosity will help him during this transitional time, as he works to pick up the pieces and find a new residence as soon as possible. Please assist in providing any additional resources or monetary donations to help ‘LC’ and little Nas find a new home!”

As of Aug. 29, Cole’s GoFundMe had raised just over $4,000 of the $10,000 goal.

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After devastating Williamsburg fire, displaced tenants and café owners turn to community for support • Brooklyn Paper - Brooklyn Paper
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