Devastating Fire Destroys Popular New York Holiday Market

A fire destroyed a row of vendor booths at this well known and highly attended New York holiday market.

It is never something that a business wants to encounter. A fire. Especially not around the holidays when you might be trying to make every single penny count. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened at one New York market earlier this week.

On Monday a fire ripped through the Herald Square Holiday Market in Manhattan off Broadway. Officials say the fire began around 4am and left a row of vendor booths destroyed leaving nothing left but charred merchandise.

The market had opened just on December 6th and in total 18 booths were affected. The market, that operates near the flagship Macy's remained open on one side, but the other side that was affected by the fire was closed and as of now they remain unsure if that will be reopened by the end of the holidays.

What caused it?

Right now it isn't clear what triggered the fire, but the FDNY is currently doing an investigation into the blaze.

In a statement, the company who runs the market said:

Our commitment to supporting the incredible small business vendors who make this market special remains unwavering. We are currently coordinating with each impacted vendor to explore ways to help them during this critical time.

This is a devastating blow for many vendors who lost everything.

The history of Herald Square dates back to the early 1900s when Macy's first moved to 34th Street. They say that over 2 million people visit that location per year, according to WWD.