Ever since arson was confirmed by the NYPD as the cause of the devastating, 4-alarm, nonfatal, commercial fire that ripped through seven one-story, small businesses at 3109-3123 Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood in October 2023, residents had long been waiting to find out what would become of the demolished and long abandoned site that has long been seen as an eyesore.

 

The site, located south of East 206th Street, and northwest of both East 205th and East 204th Streets, was sold earlier this year to Foodtown LLC in Mount Vernon, according to the latest NYC Department of Finance records, as had been rumored. Despite relentlessly trying to seek information on the future plans for the Bainbridge Avenue 2023 fire site from the prevailing property owner, Brooklyn-based, Bainbridge Realty Associates, Norwood News had been stonewalled, as reported.

 

Meanwhile, the monetary value of the latest purchase was not disclosed in the Memorandum of Contract. According to information published on real estate site, HuntRealEstate.com, the lot is estimated to be worth $238,500 as of 2026.

 

At the last Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) general board meeting before the summer hiatus held June 30 at the New York Botanical Garden, Noah Katz of Foodtown LLC shared with the community that the plan for the site is to build a new multi-story, multi-purpose building comprising residential apartments on the upper floors and some (as yet unknown) commercial business(s) at street level.

 

“We’d like to put apartments above,” Katz said in part to those gathered. “We want to make it beautiful. We want to get it going, but we’re going to ask you for a zoning change because it’s strange. There’s only a commercial one floor on that street. We’d like to build something even more beautiful with homes and everything, and we’re going to be making that request again officially with everyone involved.”

 

He added in part, “It’s basically the block that CVS is on, and everything around it is apartment buildings. If you look from an aerial view, Google Earth, it’s the only strip that’s one floor in the district, in that area. So, that’s what we like to do.”

Katz continued in part, “This is the first of many meetings with your input, your involvement. We want to hear from you. I mean that and what we’d like to do….it’s a weird situation. What we encounter is that the whole block is only zoned for commercial. So, what we’re going to request is apartment buildings above. We’d like to build residences so people have homes, two bedrooms, one bedroom. We’re gonna work all that out. We’re gonna get the professionals involved. I’m just a lowly retailer but we want to get behind it and get this done. This is the first of many meetings. We’ll make presentations before the [CB7] land use committee.”

 

In addition to some less severe damage to CVS Pharmacy, which closed temporarily after the fire and later reopened, other businesses along the block destroyed and demolished in the October 2023 fire included, as reported, the Family Meat Market business, Bainbridge Bakery, Halal Curry & Kebab restaurant, a fish market, Shahjalal Grocery & Variety, which sells Bangladeshi, American, Indian & Pakistani food, and a Mexican grocery store.

 

As reported, that October 2023 fire, located on a 8,000 SF site, is the fourth major commercial fire to have hit the area since early 2009, and at least the second linked to arson.

In 2009, Norwood News reported on the Bainbridge Bakery commercial fire that took place in the vicinity of 3083 Bainbridge Avenue, at the corner of Bainbridge Avenue and East 204th Street, now the site of Laundry Mart, on Halloween in October that year. That fire also affected around ten other small businesses. We reported on its aftermath, a legal battle which ensued, and the subsequent redevelopment of the affected site.

 

The site in question was purchased by the Katz family, owners of Foodtown LLC, and was later redeveloped. It was the second fire to have impacted the same Bainbridge Bakery, following an earlier April 2009 fire.

 

Two months after the Halloween October 2009 fire, in December 2009, another commercial fire on nearby East 204th Street ripped through the same general commercial strip, diagonally across from the October 2009 fire site, once again affecting a number of local businesses, including Foodtown.

 

As reported, the December 2009, 5-alarm blaze, at 283 East 204th Street, gutted Foodtown, the only supermarket on the strip, which had been renovated only six months prior to the fire. The same December 2009 fire also gutted an American Diner and a dental office. McKeon Funeral Home and a local bank also incurred some less severe damage. The affected businesses were located at the current site of the now, renovated and expanded Foodtown store.

 

After the Bronx CB7 board meeting on June 30, Katz explained to Norwood News that the same East 204th Street Foodtown branch, located between East 205th Street and Perry Avenue, a short distance from the site of the 2023 Bainbridge Avenue fire, is now cooperatively owned.

According to at least one media report at the time, prosecutors reportedly said a 52-year-old man was arrested and charged with arson for his alleged involvement with that December 2009 fire. It was reported that the man allegedly hired another 53-year-old man to start the blaze, because the first man had allegedly been in debt and had allegedly bought a half-million dollar insurance policy on the diner before the fire occurred.

 

It was also reported that the 53-year-old man was also arrested. Norwood News reached out to the Bronx District Attorney’s office for details of the final outcome of both legal cases and we were advised that the 52-year-old’s 2010 case is sealed, and that there is no record in the DA’s database for the second 53-year-old man.

 

Separately, Norwood News has also asked the FDNY for the cause of the April 2009 fire, the October 2009 fire, the December 2009 fire, as well as the Fire Marshal’s report for the October 2023 fire. We finally sent a Freedom of Information Request or FOIL for the latter. After several reminders and an acknowledgement of receipt, Norwood News was scheduled to receive a response to the FOIL request in April 2026, but has not yet received it. We will continue to follow up and update this story upon receipt of any feedback to all of our inquiries.

 

Back at the June Bronx CB7 meeting, Katz made reference to the prior fire at Foodtown in December 2009, saying in part, “When, for example, the store [Foodtown] burned down Christmas week in 2008 [it was 2009], I stood up on a milk crate at McDonalds and I said to the community, ‘We’re going to rebuild this store, and we got it done in less than a year.'”

 

Katz went on to say “every single person” working at the Foodtown branch that burned down in December 2009 was re-employed at one of the other Foodtowns. “Nobody lost their job,” he said. “Everybody works everywhere today and we got the whole thing rebuilt.”

Then, seemingly in reference to the October 2009 Bainbridge Bakery fire, Katz continued, “Then, you can’t make this up! A few years later [it was two months prior], the store diagonally across the street, all the stores burned down. It’s crazy! When you have a fire in a community, it’s very bad for the community, and my brother (Dan) and I, the very nice lady who opened that building back in [inaudible] didn’t necessarily have the capacity to rebuild it. We took it on. We got it rebuilt.”

 

[As above, the Bainbridge Bakery fire took place in October 2009 and was replaced by Laundry Mart, and the Foodtown fire took place two months later in December 2009. Norwood News attempted to reach Katz for clarification on his remarks but we were unsuccessful.] Katz continued, “There’s a laundromat, there’s an eyeglass store, there’s a little pharmacy there. We are here for the community. I mean that.”

 

Separately, seemingly in reference to the latest October 2023 fire, Katz said in part, “So now, two years ago, on the same street next to CVS, another fire. I’m here today to let you know. We have a building on that block, a couple of buildings. A gentleman who has that building, I know him very, very well. He’s a wonderful gentleman,” Katz said before offering to answer any questions. There were none.

 

As reported, after the 2023 Bainbridge Avenue fire, Katz arranged to send Foodtown workers to the Bainbridge Avenue fire site to help clean up the area.

In light of the news, this week, as part of our Inquiring Photographer series, Norwood News asked readers for their opinion on the proposed multi-story building on the empty Bainbridge Avenue lot. Read more here.

 

“We are going to rebuild, and that’s what I want to tell you.” Katz said.

 

Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here to read our previous coverage of that latest October 2023 fire.

 

To read the latest coverage of the recent Bainbridge Avenue fatal fire in Fordham Manor in May, click here, here, here, here,

 

Sign up for a free smoke alarm here. Click here to read FDNY’s fire safety tips. “During a fire, always close the door behind you!” fire officials say. “It helps contain smoke and flames, giving you precious time to escape.”