Her community helped her extinguish her worries.
Gianna Cerbone, owner of the venerable Manducatis Rustica on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City, suffered fire damage to her home, also on Vernon Boulevard, on Monday, June 7.
But after an outpouring of support from friends and family in the neighborhood, Cerbone is coping far better than she thought she would.
“The community just mobilized,” said Cerbone. “There was an outpouring of help; they told me that anything we needed, they would help with.”
Though the cause of the fire is not yet known, the majority of the damage occurred in her neighbor’s apartment. However, Cerbone and her family must still vacate their apartment for approximately six to nine months.
“Our living area was burned and there is a lot of damage. We lost a lot of books and art work,” said Cerbone. “But next door is damaged even worse.”
Fire department officials escorted her and her husband through the damaged apartment to retrieve some items and to assess the damage. Cerbone credited the fire department for working professionally and for “handling a hysterical woman.”
“Everyone always has something good to say about firemen, but I experienced it firsthand,” she said. “They were so respectful and attentive to our needs.”
Cerbone and her family will be staying with her mother, who also lives in Long Island City. At the time of the fire, her mother was on vacation in Italy and told her daughter that, “this is the worst thing that should happen to you.”
But even beyond a place to live, her biggest concern was her two young sons, Antonio, 8, and Piero, 7.
“I really didn’t want them to worry about what happened,” she said. “The youngest didn’t understand why we couldn’t go home. But my older son understood and even said, ‘Mommy as long as we’re ok, we can get our stuff back.’”
As for her own mental recovery, Cerbone said that the best thing for her to do was to go back to work.
“When in doubt, a woman should cook,” she said. “Life goes on.”
