Fire guts Nonno Tony's on Johnson Avenue

The fire that ripped through Nonno Tony's Restaurant on West 235th Street near Johnson Avenue early Thursday morning seriously damaged the popular eatery and forced neighboring businesses to turn customers away for the remainder of the week.

According to the FDNY, more than 60 firefighters — approximately 12 units including Engine 52 and Ladder 52 located on Riverdale Avenue — responded at 1:45 a.m. to the blaze. A FDNY spokesman said firefighters extinguished it a little more than an hour later and that one firefighter was taken to North Central Hospital with minor injuries.

The FDNY did not say what caused the fire, but Nonno Tony's manager Carmine Zullo said he was told that an electrical fire started near the back of the restaurant, where a stereo and cable box had been plugged in.

Surveying the room filled with charred tablecloths, melted menus, blackened plates and wilted plastic cups on Thursday around noon, Mr. Zullo took solace in one thing.

“At least the monkeys survived,” he said, pointing at a chandelier near the front of the restaurant that featured sculpted primates he said were popular with the customers.

But it was clear that the restaurant would have to shut its doors, at least temporarily.

“I feel bad for the community,” he said, adding that the restaurant “was finally taking off six years later.”

He said he hoped the Italian restaurant would reopen soon — but the course of action for other small business owners on the block was less clear.

“We’re not really concerned about anything here because we were closed. Our food was away,” said Yuval Dekel, owner of Liebman’s Deli, which smelled heavily of smoke but showed no signs of damage Thursday.

Firefighters broke a padlock and a skylight to enter the premises in the wee hours, Mr. Dekel said. But he did not know whether it was safe to open the restaurant for business and was frustrated that he had not received any information about how to proceed by Thursday afternoon.

“We’re sort of confused as to whether or not we’re allowed to [open],” he said.