Neighbors Rally After Fire Destroys Bushwick Home

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — Locals are organizing concerts, happy hours and crowdfunding campaigns to raise money for 10 Bushwick residents whose home was destroyed by a massive fire last month.

A group of Bushwickers are hoping to raise $15,000 for residents of 38 Lawton St., the three-story house destroyed by a fire on Feb. 22, by throwing parties and crowdfunding online.

“After seeing firsthand the destruction and loss suffered by these 10 people, I knew they wouldn't be able to recover on their own,” wrote Robert Murray in his GoFundMe campaign.

Murray also posted photos from inside the house that shows caved-in walls, floors covered in debris and enormous strips of plaster, a bed drenched in filthy water and a blackened exterior.

“Luckily, I'm not the only one that realized the gravity of the situation,” wrote Murray, a former member of Brooklyn’s Community Board 4. “Many friends, neighbors and local businesses have pitched in by creating many ways to help.”

Beyond setting up the GoFundMe campaign, which had reached $4,774 of its $15,000 goal by Friday, the Bushwick residents have organized a happy hour and benefit concert to bring in cash for Lawton Street.

The Gateway will host the concert on March 2 and all entry fees and 20 percent of drink sales will go toward helping the Lawton Street residents recover.

And Marcos, a bar on Lawton and Broadway, will donated 2 percent of proceeds from its six-hour happy hour on Friday to the building's residents, Murray wrote.

The cash will benefit building residents such as Scott Sweeny, who escaped the building safely but could not save his cat, Sophocles, Bushwick Daily reported.

“May you soon be back on your feet,” wrote Dina Janela, who donated to the GoFundMe campaign on Wednesday. ”Prayers go out to everyone.”

Photos courtesy of GoFundMe, a Patch media partner