by JOHN VALENTI
A pre-dawn fire in the first-floor newsstand of a 35-story Upper East Side apartment building, injured more than 30 people Thursday -- including 19 firefighters, FDNY officials told The Associated Press.
Most of the injuries were minor -- and, though one firefighter was hospitalized in "serious" condition, all of the injuries were non-life-threatening.
FDNY Batallion 9 fire chief John Belnavis said the fire in the building at 72nd Street and Third Avenue was called in at 5:15 a.m. and said it is believed it began inside the State News, a stationery and toy store located at 1243 Third Avenue.
More than 125 firefighters eventually responded to the scene, battling a blaze whose heavy smoke engulfed the first three floors of the building, a luxury high-rise called the "Wellesley." The building was evacuated. The fire was under control by 6:30 a.m.
However, emergency personnel closed down a three-block strip of Third Avenue, diverting traffic and morning rush-hour buses from their routes.
Ambereen Yousef, who lives in the second floor apartment located directly above the fire said her housemate woke her at 4:30 a.m. to tell her of the fire. Firefghters knocked out her apartment windows, she said -- and destroyed walls.
"We saw the fire and we got out of the building," Yousef said. "When we opened the doors, there was smoke."
The manager of Grace's Marketplace, located next door to the Wellesley, said the market suffered smoke and water damage. Javier Mojica, 38, said the meat, fish and produce departments had been damaged.
There was minor water damage to an antiques store.
The owner of the State News, Louis Weissbart, said he has owned the family-run store for 29 years -- and lives in the building next door.
"I can't even think right now," Weissbart said. "I have not accepted it yet. I just don't know what's next."
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Belnavis said.
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