
BY BEN VERDE
The fate of a recently
opened jazz club remains
up in the air after a fire tore
through the top floor of its
building in Park Slope on
Jan. 22, killing two people
and rendering the structure
uninhabitable.
Mikhael Brovkine, one
of the co-owners of Made
in New York Jazz Cafe and
Bar, which opened just three
months ago, says the club
suffered extensive damage
from the thousands of
gallons of water that New
York’s Bravest poured onto
the fire, which they now believe
claimed most or all of
their instruments and sound
equipment. Fire Marshalls
have determined that the
fire was likely caused by an
extension chord.
“It’s all gone,” Brovkine
said.
On top of that, the place
reeks of smoke, according to
Brokvine’s partner, who suspects
COURIER L 28 IFE, JAN. 31-FEB. 6, 2020
he’ll probably end up
having to tear out the walls
just to get rid of the odor.
“It all smells like barbecue,”
co-owner Boris Bangiyev
said after surveying the
damage on Wednesday.
Brovkine is cautiously
optimistic that he may be
able to salvage some of his
equipment, but said that an
investigation conduct by the
city’s Fire Marshall has prevented
his team and his insurance
company from taking
a full inventory, and said
until he’s effectively trapped
in limbo until their investigation
is concluded.
Until then, the jazzman
couldn’t say definitely
whether he’ll reopen or not
in the wake of his club’s inauspicious
start.
For all his troubles,
Brovkine has his health,
and the musician said his
heart goes out to the two
Smoke-eaters surveyed the damage the morning after the fi re. Photo by Ben Verde
real victims of Wednesday’s
fire, 22-year-old firefighterin
training Steven Munoz
and his girlfriend Destiny
Marmolejo, who lost their
lives after the fire erupted
in their fourth-floor apartment,
trapping them in their
bedroom.
“It’s crazy, but the family
on top of us has experienced
much more,” he said.
“People are dead, and this is
the worst thing that can happen.”
Up in smoke
Park Slope jazz club’s fate in
question after fatal fi re