Famed Edward Sorel Mural Damaged in Waverly Inn Fire

[Photos: @robertsietsema, DNAInfo, Krieger, @blankcanvasnyc]
Last night at around 5:30 p.m., a fire broke out in the basement of Graydon Carter's celeb hangout, the Waverly Inn. Thankfully, no one was hurt — 60 firefighters responded to the scene, and the blaze was extinguished by 6:15 p.m. Employees from the restaurant helped evacuate a tenant from the townhouse above.

The big loss here is the mural from artist Edward Sorel, which the firefighters had to hack through to get to the blaze. Sorel's painting depicted famous literary figures and celebrities, including Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, and Walt Whitman. In an email to DNAInfo, Sorel notes: "What's on the wall at Waverly is a reproduction of my drawings which they can easily reproduce again from their digital files."

The restaurant was closed for service last night, but it should reopen in the next few days. Here's a photo from Daniel Krieger of the mural before the fire:

· Waverly Inn's Famed Mural Damaged in Fire [DNAInfo]
· All Coverage of Waverly Inn [~ENY~]