Investigators have been focusing their attention on a church located in the middle of the block, now believed to be where the fire started.
The strip of 11 businesses included a deli, a convenience store, a Chinese restaurant, a salon, a laundromat, several storefront churches, a driving school and an insurance agency.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries in the blaze.
The fire broke out at a store just before 11:55 p.m. Thursday and quickly spread through the cockloft of that building, moving to adjacent businesses.
"When units opened up the store, they encountered fire in the cockloft that had spread across several adjoining stores," said Deputy Assistant Chief Paul Miller. "At the height of the operation, firefighters had six hose lines stretched and utilized a cockloft nozzle to knock down the fire and prevent it from spreading further."
More than 230 first responders headed to the scene.
Firefighters battled the fire for hours before bringing it under control just before 2:30 a.m.
"I came out here at 12:30 and I saw all of the firetrucks and the smoke and they tried to contain it. It's hard seeing them breaking everything, but I know they have to do what they had to do to contain the fire," said Neisha Michelin, business owner.
Her salon was among those damaged. As was Will Wright's insurance agency.
"It looks like a big loss inside of my office. But I'd love to get in there and see what's going on, but from the outside here, it looks like a big loss," he said.
The FDNY said that two vehicles were parked illegally in front of hydrants at this fire. The owners of those vehicles were issued criminal court summonses.
Parking in front of a hydrant means it take firefighters longer to hook up their water lines. They often have to double park next to the illegally-parked car, which blocks other rescue vehicles from getting to the scene.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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