Basement Fire in Kips Bay Forces Building Residents, Shops to Flee
A fire that appeared to originate in the basement of a dry cleaner at First Avenue and East 22nd Street on Feb. 20 forced the whole mixed-use building to be vacated. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
Kips Bay /
| 01 Mar 2026 | 03:49
Firefighters responded to a two-alarm blaze that appears to have erupted in the basement of a 116-year-old building at 22nd Street and First Avenue. on Feb. 20. (
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Firefighters from Engine 5 on E. 14th St. while a truck company stretched its ladder to the roof of the five story building to do a floor-by-floor search to make sure everyone was safely evacuated. There were no civilian casualties but two firefighters were injured. (
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Outside the front of Skyline Dry Cleaners on Feb. 27. The shops on the ground floors were forced to close after the fire and have no target date for reopening. (
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Notice posted outside the front of the building informing tenants of a pending fire investigation by the insurer. (
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Jugos cafe was also damaged from the fire, and has closed down temporarily (
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Sign outside Jugos writing ‘We are closed du (sic) to fire next door - W hop (sic) to open soon - No gas & watr (sic).” (
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A restaurant and a dry cleaner and four floors of residential apartments are still shut down after a two alarm fire erupted on Feb. 20 in the basement of a 116-year-old building on the corner of First Avenue and East 22nd Street.
Ladders could be seen stretching to the rooftop of the five story building on the night of the blaze at 377 First Ave. There were no reports of civilian casualties but two firefighters suffered minor injuries. One refused medical attention at the scene and another was transported to a local hospital.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation. The building has a number of open building code violations, including one case from 2014—before the current owner bought it—that cited the building for electrical violations, which according to the Department of Building web site is still listed as an open violation.
The fire is suspected to have originated in the basement of Skyline Cleaners and smoke traveled through the building to the rooftop. A 911 fire call was received at 9:03 p.m. The fire went to a second alarm at 10:06 p.m. prompting a response from Engine 12, a west-side unit that joined Engine 5 from the East Village and several other units which extinguished the blaze in just over two hours.
The building department and the emergency response team reported that the building owner has yet to request a post-fire inspection. There is no secured date for reopening the building.
A small cafe serving juice and small bites, Jugos, which was adjacent to the dry cleaner where the fire is believed to have originated, was also severely impacted by the fire. The cafe currently has no gas or water and are unable to resume service but a sign outside said the shop hopes to reopen soon.
The building is owned by a limited liability corporation, Gramercy First Avenue LLC, which is headed by Majid Kahen, of Kahen Properties. It was purchased for $6 million on Oct. 23, 2015, city records show.
Kahen Properties, the real estate portfolio he heads, was valued at $417.2 million, by Pincus. By valuation, 83 percent of the holdings are in Manhattan with some buildings in Brooklyn and Queens. Twenty six of the 19 properties are walk-ups, indicating that they are older residential units although the firm appears to have turned its attention to luxury developments in recent years.
The company developed the upscale Adele, at East Houston Street and Avenue D one of the pioneering luxury buildings in Alphabet City and in 2018 built the Mason, a 23-story luxury tower at 145 Madison Ave. near East 31st Street. In 2022, the firm bought three tenement buildings in Lenox Hill stretching from 1020 Third Ave to 1026 Third Ave. near Bloomingdales between Eeast 60th and East 61st streets for a total of $34 million.
Those tenements were demolished and replaced with the 30-story Remi building, which is now renting luxury apartments starting at $5,000 for a studio and $6,900 for a one bedroom.
According to the Housing Preservation Department, the building that was the site the Feb. 20 fire has a history of violations. In February of 2014, before Gramercy First Ave LLC took over the building, there was a report of an unsafe electric wiring condition consisting of exposed electrical wiring at the ceiling in the second room at apartment seven on the fifth floor.
There are currently seven open building code violations at the address.
Posted on the front door of the dry cleaner’s building is an “EVIDENCE” notice stating not to disturb the ground floor, as well as any electrical systems.
An official at Kahed Properties LLC, said the building is waiting an inspection in order to reopen the units but declined further comment.