By SARI ZEIDLER
It changed again recently when flames engulfed the eatery and two other restaurants. Whether Bagel Boss will return to its old site remains uncertain.
Town of Hempstead spokeswoman Susan Trenkle said that the town's building department is not requiring the structure to be demolished, as originally feared. But building owner Plaza Realty LLC of Woodbury has employed a forensic engineer to determine whether the charred strip of stores can, in fact, be saved.
"They are considering demolition, but not because the buildings department is requiring it," Trenkle said of Plaza Realty's pending decision. "It will be their own engineer who makes that determination."
The forensic engineer, Paul Angelides of Paul J. Angelides PE Consulting, said he expects the determination process to take six to eight months, or more. "The entire roof, at minimum, is going to need to be taken off," Angelides said of Bagel Boss. He also said one of the walls would need to come down. "Assuming work could start, if you just included the work on the roof and the repair of the wall, that would be a three- to four-month process," said Angelides.
A woman who identified herself over the phone as Plaza Realty's owner, but who would not give her name, said the company did own the Merrick Road strip of stores that housed Bagel Boss and neighboring restaurants Robeks and Starfish Cafe. She said Plaza had no comment about the company's plans for the site, including whether the same tenants would remain where they were before the fire.
Adam Rosner, owner of the Bagel Boss franchise, said in a previous interview that the store planned to reopen in Merrick, even if it must do so at a new location. He chose to withhold further comment about rebuilding until given a final report by the town's building department.
Angelides said he would give a copy of his findings to the department this week upon request.
Comments about this story? Szeidler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
