Romanesque Revival Stable Burns in 5-Alarm Fire on Vernon Avenue in Bed Stuy

A graffiti-covered circa 1890s stable went up in flames this morning at 376 Vernon Avenue in Bed Stuy, close to the Bushwick border. Nearby Broadway was still shut at 9:30 a.m. by police, and helicopters have been circling since the wee hours, readers tell us.

So far, no injuries have been reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation, according to News 12. A neighbor told the channel he has seen squatters in the building.

Recently used as a warehouse, the Romanesque Revival building was likely built as a stable sometime in the 1890s. By the 1930s, it was used as a car service station, an old tax photo shows. As recently as the 1980s, an old wooden door was still in place, an old tax photo reveals.

The lot is empty on an 1888 map, but two buildings appear at the location on an 1898 map, and stories in the Brooklyn Eagle refer to it as a livery stable as early as 1895.

In 1902, the property’s then owner filed an application for a new-building permit for a stable “west of Stuyvesant,” with architect firm Huberty & Hudswell designing, according to the Real Estate Record and Builders Guide. No exact address is given, so it could have been a different building than the one at 376 Vernon Avenue that burned this morning.

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