Grease fire claims another restaurant

Five-alarm fire claims O’Neill’s Restaurant


O’Neill’s Restaurant and Sports Bar on 53rd Drive was completely destroyed in a fire Monday morning.
More than 200 firefighters from 44 units battled the stubborn blaze that began around midnight in the basement kitchen of O’Neill’s Restaurant and Sports Bar on 53rd Drive near 65th Place, according to the Fire Department. Six firefighters were transported to Elmhurst Hospital with minor injuries before the fire was finally brought under control at 3:25 a.m., though units were still dousing hot spots in the charred skeleton of the bar at noon. Officials deemed it an accidental grease fire.


“It was crazy, seeing it unfold,” said James Curran, 21, who lives around the block from O’Neill’s on 64th Street and witnessed patrons and employees fleeing the bar. “I thought it was going to be over in two seconds. It was overwhelming.”
Mary Lou Story, who has lived on 62nd Street for 16 years, said she bolted out into her backyard after hearing sirens racing in the direction of Frank Principe Park.
“I was looking at the sky; it looked like clouds, but they were moving too fast,” she recalled. “Then I saw an orange glow.”
Owned and operated by George O’Neill, the famed borough haunt had been serving Queens for more than seven decades.
While watching tower ladder companies knock down the fire from above, area native Chris Esmont, 32, said he “never thought this place would go up.
“If you grew up in Maspeth, it’s a rite of passage going to O’Neill’s,” he asserted.
The bar’s website indicated the owner plans to “rebuild in the coming months.”