Fire tears through newly refurbished Tiffany building on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue

A fire swept through parts of the recently renovated Tiffany & Co. building on Manhattan’s iconic Fifth Avenue Thursday morning.

Photos from the store, which is right next to Trump Tower, show crews of FDNY firefighters tackling the blaze that began as an underground street blaze, a fire department spokesman said.

The source is believed to be an electrical safe.

Employees were taken to hospital by ambulance. The fire started around 9:38 a.m., just as staff were preparing to open the store to customers.

Shop assistants and chefs from the sixth-floor Blue Box Café were out on the street, watching the smoke billowing through the windows.

The building has recently reopened after a lengthy and expensive renovation. Stars such as Katy Perry, Hailey Bieber and Blake Lively attended the grand reopening in April.

The store is located on a highly prized corner of Manhattan retail real estate – it shares the block with Trump Tower.

LVMH, the European luxury brand, bought Tiffany in 2021 for $16 billion.

The renovations were estimated by some experts at $500 million.

Bernard Arnault, chairman and owner of LVMH, declined to confirm the figure earlier this year when interviewed about the opening.

He described the renovation of the entire building – first opened in 1940 – to make each floor different.

“We got lost in the building. Here’s a man who gets lost in his own shop. I said, “We’ve got some work to do on this.”‘

Part of the renovation was the addition of The Blue Box Café on the sixth floor.

The first floor is occupied with an extensive showroom and shop. There are ten floors in total, half of which are open to the public.

In a statement, a Tiffany spokesperson said: “This morning, prior to store opening hours, an electrical fire broke out in the basement at the edge of the Tiffany Landmark on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

“The fire has now been extinguished and we are working with the New York Fire Department to take precautions to ensure the safety of our employees and customers.

“The store is expected to open later today after inspection by the fire department.”

The flagship store opened in 1940 but became famous all over the world 21 years later in Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

In the iconic windows, Audrey Hepburn, who played penniless Holly Golightly, gazed at diamonds and pearls as she nibbled on croissants after a night on the town.

In January 2020, the store closed – pending the LVMH deal – for refurbishments that would only take a year.

The deal faltered during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and renovations took longer than expected. It finally reopened in April.