Fire Breaks Out At Upper East Side Renovation: FDNY

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A fire broke out at a Lexington Avenue building undergoing a renovation and two-story infill along East 73rd Street, according to the FDNY and city records.

Last week, a pair of restaurateurs presented their idea for a new, unnamed Italian eatery on the first two floors of the building.

The blaze erupted at 1022 Lexington Ave. just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday and was first reported as a scaffold fire, according to the FDNY.

Flames and smoke were later seen billowing from the roof near the middle of the building, according to social media posts, just adjacent to the two-story addition being built at the rear of the building along East 73rd street.

It took over 100 smoke eaters and at least four ladder trucks just under an hour to get the blaze under control as smoke billowed between the ritzy blocks between Lexington and Park Avenues, an effort that sent one firefighter to Lenox Hill Hospital with minor injuries, according to officials.

After the fire, the city's Department of Buildings issued a partial stop work order for the site so that inspections could ensure the integrity of the roof.

The facade renovation and infill construction underway at the circa 1880's brownstone was twice disapproved by the Community Board 8 Landmarks Committee in 2020 and 2021, but finally earned approval in July 2021 after agreeing to make the facade renovations and the rear two-story infill more contextual to the rest of the building.

1022 Lexington Ave. was purchased in 2019 by Behrooz Hedvat for $11 million, according to city records. The building was just one of a package of properties Hedvat bought from Ben Ashkenazy and Daniel Levey for $43 million, according to Traded NY.

More recently, the building again came to the attention of Community Board 8, as restaurateurs Nick Pashalis and Nick Tsoulos, of Arva Madison and Anassa Taverna, presented their idea for a new Italian joint in the bottom two floors, formerly home to Casimir & Co.

A representative told the board last week that due to renovations, the building would not be ready for service for at least another six months.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the city's fire marshal, according to FDNY officials.