HOLIDAY HAVOC
Beloved B’klyn kids’ store wrecked by FDNY fire truck racing to blaze
An FDNY engine truck racing to a raging fire crashed into a Brooklyn boutique, demolishing the storefront just days before Christmas, officials said Monday.
The firetruck collided with another vehicle on Avenue U near E. Fourth St. in Gravesend about 11:40 p.m. Sunday and then burst through the security gate of Coquette Kids, which was closed for the night.
Six firefighters and the car’s driver were taken to local hospitals with injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening.
The storefront was reduced to a pile of twisted metal and debris. Five people who live above the store were evacuated over concerns the building now may be structurally unsound.
The injured firefighters were treated at NYU Langone Hospital - Brooklyn while the car driver was taken to New York-Presbyterian Methodist Hospital.
The FDNY said its truck was on its way to a fire about 2 miles away on Bay Parkway when the crash happened.
Store owner Bunny Benhooren said neighbors called and told her about the damage. She said the timing could not have been worse after the coronavirus pandemic forced the store to close until recently.
Benhooren said she had hoped the holiday season would make up for some of the losses.
“Devastating,” Benhooren said. “COVID, and now this?
We were closed for many months, maybe six weeks ago we were closed, and now this tops it off, right before holidays, right before Christmas, New Years. It’s like a busy season, and sure enough this happened.”
Benhooren said she was grateful, at least, there were no serious injuries.
“But you know what, at least it happened in the evening, not in the day, where you see the traffic here on Avenue U,” Benhooren said. “It’s a busy block and nobody got hurt, which is the main thing, that everyone’s fine. And this is all replaceable, hopefully.”
Benhooren said she has owned the shop for about 30 years and it’s been about 20 years since the store’s last renovation.
She said the store usually has three or four employees, but economic setbacks forced her to reduce her staff. Until the firetruck plowed through, Benhooren said she was working every day herself from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to make up for the loss.
Joey Minuto, 65, owns Creative Trophies, the shop nextdoor to Coquette Kids. He said the business has been in his family for 59 years, and the two stores share a wall. His shop also sustained massive damage on one side.
“The Fire Department truck was all the way in, and it pushed debris that pushed the wall into my showroom,” Minuto said, gesturing at the gaping hole in the wall of Benhooren’s store.
“We’re getting an engineer to see if we can start picking up the pieces, once they shore it up a
The Fire Department truck was all the way in, and it pushed debris that pushed the wall into my showroom.
JOEY MINUTO, OWNER OF CREATIVE TROPHIES
little,” Minuto said.
But he estimated reconstruction will take one to three months.
“There’s a lot involved, but the first thing is to get the whole wall rebuilt,” Minuto said.
A tenant who lives above his store called to tell him the awful news Sunday night, and he couldn’t believe his ears.
“He said, “Joey, there’s a Fire Department truck in the corner store,” Minuto recalled. “I said, ‘What, are you drunk?’ “
Customers passing by were also devastated to see the damage, mourning one of their favorite spots to shop.
“I love Bunny,” said Shuli Ankari, 37, who owns Breeze Swimwear across the street. “I’ve always shopped in her store for my nieces. She has the best baby stuff and she’s a lovely person.”