Fire destroys Mount Vernon restaurant

Fire officials say flames broke out at the Mozza Restaurant and Bar at 95 Gramatan Ave. around 10 p.m.

News 12 Staff

Oct 13, 2021, 12:53 PM

Updated 1,091 days ago

Share:

A massive fire destroyed a Mount Vernon business overnight and heavily damaged the adjacent businesses as well.
Fire officials say flames broke out at the Mozza Restaurant and Bar at 95 Gramatan Ave. around 8 p.m.
"I wasn't born here, I'm an immigrant and I'm trying and for this to just happen to me *cries* I don't understand," said 25-year-old Donna Roa, a new business owner.
Mozza Restaurant and Bar has been closed but it was set to reopen in just a few weeks — as Donna's new restaurant — "Eden" — a dream of hers since she was a little girl. 
"I cook, I'm good at it, I like messing with flavor," Roa added. "It was everything I ever wanted and it's just gone. Overnight it's just gone.*
Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard says that many of the businesses in the area have tin roofs which hold the heat and create oven-like heat, making fires very difficult to put out. The Yonkers fire department were also called to assist Mount Vernon firefighters furiously fight the flames for more than seven hours.
The adjacent businesses, Flash Cleaners and Tailors and AD Sports Bar have suffered significant water and structural damage. The interior roof of the sports bar had to be pulled down while racks of clothes in the cleaners have been destroyed. No injuries have been reported.
The mayor says it was the second fire in the city in 24 hours. An earlier fire on Cedar Street took firefighters around three hours to extinguish.