The dining room at Fred’s, before the fire.
Fred’s restaurant, a core neighborhood spot at 202 West 83rd Street, suffered serious damage in a fire late on Tuesday night. No one was hurt, but the restaurant was seriously damaged and boards are now covering the windows.
Now the restaurant is asking the community for help in rebuilding. The fire destroyed parts of the main dining room, but the kitchen and bar area were spared — and the restaurant’s basic infrastructure remains intact. Fred’s is asking for $50,000 to help it rebuild. “Yes, we will likely have insurance help get us started, but we’ve got a daunting task ahead – to bring back our main dining room from almost total devastation! Every dollar raised will help us rebuild – whether it’s $2 for a picture frame or $50 for a dining room chair, no amount is too small,” the GoFundMe says.
The GoFundMe explains how Fred’s has been one of the key gathering spots on the UWS during previous tragedies, from 9/11 to Hurricane Sandy.
Some of the items that were destroyed have more sentimental than monetary value, like Fred’s legendary dog photos. The restaurant says it may be reaching out to people to help gather more dog photos soon.
My wife and I love Freds, as it was the spot of our first date. Over the years, we have met countless people who share similar stories. We love David and Kim and hope this gets back up and running soon.
I am so devastated to hear this news. Fred’s is a gem, and David and all of the staff are so warm and lovely. I’m grateful that I’m in a position to donate and hope others will too.
How about offering a gift card in exchange for a GFM donation? For example, a $10.00 gift card for a $100.00 donation just might help Fred’s get to its goal of $50k (and beyond) with the community’s help.
Will certainly donate! I celebrated so many special occasions during the last 20 years at Fred’s, most were happy, but Fred’s family was there for me when times were tough as well. David, Kim, Laura, Halid, Megan, Kennedy, Danny and many more, please rebuild soon, we’ll be waiting patiently for your return!
I love Fred’s, though I’ve only rediscovered it in the last year.
I have lots of picture frames that I will be thrilled to donate when the time is right. Maybe some dog-themed bookends, if you have a use for bookends.
I love Fred’s. Even when I moved from the Upper East Side to Brooklyn in 2011, I would stop in there for a drink or a meal every time I was anywhere near that neighborhood. Dave is awesome, please reopen. I hope my dog Aggie is still there in the framed photo I brought in back in 2001!!!!!!!!
I love Fred’s – I just donated. I hope they rebuild
Much as I enjoyed Fred’s, until they know how much insurance will pay, I feel this is a SCAM, and certainly at best double dipping. I wouldn’t contribute a dime and would recommend others ask some questions before they do!
I’m glad I’m not the only one to think this. This is the 4th restaurant I’ve hear getting a midnight fire the last week or so…0
A side benefit of a pandemic is we now have a legion of uninformed morons who think they are Fire Marshalls. Go back in the sewer you crawled out of. Fred’s means a lot to many people. If you had a clue you would know how stupid, uninformed and vicious these idiotic insinuations are.
Fred’s “means a lot” to me and my family, and we contributed and did so happily and without regret.
At the same time, the questions being raised here are valid questions and they deserve answers. The people asking those questions are not “uninformed morons” and not one has claimed to be a Fire Marshall — nor do they need to be in order to raise these questions.
Not one of our neighbors here “crawled out of a sewer”. The questions they have asked are neither “stupid, uninformed [nor] vicious” and you have a heckuva nerve to dismiss them as nothing more than “idiotic insinuations”.
The questions asked are valid. Unless you are angling for a job in the current federal administration, you should answer questions with facts, not just call the questioners undeserved school-yard names.
My family and I spent many, many evenings at Fred’s. The owners and the entire staff are fine, caring, hardworking, upstanding people. They honorably operate a small, independently-owned business at a time when there are fewer and fewer on the UWS – especially now.
My wife and I learned of the fire when the following day when we passed by the boarded-up facade. The owner was standing out front, devastated.
If you spent time with him and personally felt his deep, deep pain – as we did. If you put yourself in his shoes – someone who clearly built this business from nothing… has been there every night for this community and his staff… has personally helped the firefighters who serve our community, all while creating memories for many families – including yours – for more than 20 years… If you personally heard the owner express his overwhelming concern for his employees and their ongoing livelihood with the restaurant now closed (which followed his praising the fire department for ensuring nobody in the building was hurt) as we did, perhaps you would 1) think twice about implying such nefarious intent; and/or 2) try to find a way to (safely in light of social distancing) ask him these questions directly rather than ginning up a controversy on a public forum.
Maybe the people who made these accusatory posts actually did 1 and/or 2. If so, I will simply add the adjective “insensitive” and let this go.
While I have no evidence, I’m inclined to agree. The combination of the restaurant industry being in financial trouble, that the fire started in the dining room and not the kitchen, how quickly this GoFundMe was put up (and without any mention of the employees or residents of the building above). They’ve even removed the mention of insurance from the GoFundMe page.
Per the WSR quote, the GoFundMe went from “Yes, we will likely have insurance help get us started, but we’ve got a daunting task ahead – to bring back our main dining room from almost total devastation! Every dollar raised will help us rebuild – whether it’s $2 for a picture frame or $50 for a dining room chair, no amount is too small” to “But we’ve got a daunting task ahead – to bring back our main dining room from almost total devastation! Every dollar raised will help us rebuild – whether it’s $2 for a picture frame or $50 for a dining room chair, no amount is too small.”
I’d like to be wrong, but it’s something to consider before people throw their money at this.
I know Fred’s means a lot to the community, but I have to agree with the other comments that if they had insurance, it’s strange to be asking for money from the community during a pandemic for things like dining chairs and picture frames, with no mention of helping their employees or apartment residents that were displaced because of this fire.
When Jacob’s Pickles had their fire in 2017, they had insurance, so they set up a GoFundMe and separate fundraising event to raise money for the neighbors who lost their home during the fire.
It’s just strange that they’d mention the insurance initially, and it has now been removed from the GoFundMe page. I hope I’m wrong, but it smells fishy.
Was Freds selling take out on the night of the fire?
I feel empathy for businesses. I am sensitive. But there are also a lot of other things to “donate” to. This is a business. If people want to donate, that’s fine. But I agree I think it is strange to ask for money. Why not ask for investors rather than donations? And why wouldn’t insurance pay for a lot of it. No one is taking away one’s personal relationship with the owner. But that doesn’t mean that their cause is necessarily more worthy than others. There are so many victims in this pandemic. It isn’t wrong to question it.
They raised $70+k already. The go fund me is all emotional and no facts. What caused the fire? How much will rebuilding cost? Do they not have insurance? Fred’s-if you are reading us, why don’t you share some of these facts with us so that we understand better. Did you lay off workers? Will they come back?
I totally get those whom are sentimental about this restaurant. I think it is amazing they donated. It was also a place that charged $18/20 for mac and cheese. It was exclusive and unaffordable for many. Just my thoughts, please don’t insult me for sharing them.
David has always provided great customer assistance. He puts smiles on people’s faces when he checks on them to see how they are enjoying their meals. He is great! Looking forward to the restaurant opening up again.