Published:  Feb. 16, 2008   |  Modified:  Feb. 22, 2008

[Editor's Note:  Thanks to Queens Chronicle columnist, local historian and author Ron Marzlock for the black and white image of the stores on Metropolitan Avenue at the southwest corner of Lefferts Boulevard taken before the fire that destroyed them. Thanks also to Ron Signore for the color shots of the fire.]

The single story row of shops on Metropolitan Avenue at the southwest corner of Lefferts Boulevard had been there for about 50 years. Early one April morning, a fire swept through them. That morning, Ron Signore was in his 6th floor apartment at 83-43 118th Street when he saw the smoke.

It started early in the morning, I woke up to see plumes of smoke outside my window. It didn't register with me at first, I thought the smoke was coming from a smokestack, but after a few minutes I realized that it was way too much smoke for that. I grabbed a camera, raced around the corner and started snapping away.

Although the exterior walls survived the fire, the inside was destroyed and the building was demolished soon afterwards. It was replaced by another single story brick building that housed a Savon Drugstore which lasted for a while and then closed. Today it is the site of a condominium.