Teaneck—It was about 7:30 p.m. on June 25 when a car backed into one of the glass windows at Gotham Burger. The restaurant was moderately full, and two customers were lightly injured in the crash.
The Jewish Link spoke with one of the owners of the restaurant, Jonny Shore, about the crash. “Nobody expected the accident to happen, it was shocking. Our immediate concern was, ‘is everyone in the restaurant ok?’ We have a lot of high school and college students who work at the front of the store. I was not in the store at the time, but after I heard about what had happened I rushed over. In those six minutes from my house to the store, I did not know what to expect.”
Wakeem Sealy, who has been working at Gotham Burger for almost two years, was in the restaurant at the time of the crash. “You see stuff like that on TV, but when you see it in real life, it’s on a completely different level,” Sealy said.
“We’re the luckiest people, with so few injuries, and minimal structural damage, it is a miracle that no one was seriously hurt. Through all of this my partner and I said, ‘everything broken can be fixed.’ The outpouring of people who have reached out to us personally has been tremendous and overwhelming. The community is being very supportive,” Shore said.
“I did a double take after the crash. It was scary because you saw the crash and heard screams from different people,” employee Steven Belnavis said.
Gotham Burger was only closed for two days and opened the Sunday after, on July 28. The restaurant has been fully operational since then.
Owners Jonathan Shore and Avi Roth went to college together and were looking to start a new path. They opened for business at Teaneck’s Gotham Burger four years ago, and their New York location is entering its second year of business.
Gotham Burger is coming back strong, and will continue to serve the community its delicious food. After the nine days, the store windows will be fully repaired. They will be open during the three weeks, and while Teaneck’s store will be closed, the NY location will be open with a special nine days menu. It will be closed on Tisha B’Av and orders can be made for delivery, for after the fast.
To order from Gotham Burger visit www.gothamburgerco.com/teaneck, or call 201-530-7400 for delivery.
By Amanda Leifer
