2015 East Village gas explosion

A gas explosion occurred in the afternoon of March 26, 2015, in a building located at 121 Second Avenue, in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The explosion was caused by an illegal tap into a gas main. The explosion caused two deaths, injured at least nineteen people, four critically, and the resulting fire completely destroyed three adjacent buildings at 119, 121, and 123 Second Avenue between East 7th Street and St. Marks Place.

2015 East Village gas explosion
Cleanup two days after the explosion
DateMarch 26, 2015 (2015-03-26)
Location121 Second Avenue, East Village, Manhattan, New York City
CauseGas leak
Deaths2
Non-fatal injuries19
Property damageBuildings located at 119, 121, and 123 Second Avenue collapsed.

Background

In August 2014, a meter reader for Consolidated Edison, the utility company that delivers natural gas, electricity, and steam in New York City and in the metropolitan area, discovered that someone had illegally tapped into the 1 1⁄2-inch (3.8 cm) gas line which serviced the "Sushi Park" Japanese restaurant at 121 Second Avenue, the only part of the building authorized to receive gas service from Con Edison. The illegal taps were serving some of the apartments in the building. Con Ed turned off the gas to the building for 10 days until the taps were removed and the plumber who did the work certified to the city's Building Department that it had been completed. Neither the Building Department nor Con Edison were required by law to verify that the work had been done.[1]

In the days before the explosion, work was ongoing in the building for the installation of a new 4-inch (10 cm) gas line to service the apartments in 121 Second Avenue. Con Edison workers inspected the installation just an hour before the explosion, but did not pass it, for reasons not related to safety. The new line was locked off and not operational.

The row of buildings along Second Avenue between East 7th and 8th Streets had landmark status due to being part of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District, created by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2012.[2]:239–242 The date for the original construction of the Queen Anne style building at #121 is not known, but it was altered around 1886; the Greek Revival one at #123 was built around 1834 and altered to the Neo-Grec style in 1913 by George F. Pelham; and the building at #125, which was designed by Pelham in the Renaissance Revival style, was built in 1901. All three buildings were 5-story tenements, with #121 and 123 being old-law buildings, and #125 being a new law tenement.[2][3]

Explosion

On the day of the explosion, Con Edison investigators had inspected a new gas pipe installation at 121 2nd Avenue, which remained turned off, and left about 2:45 PM. Shortly afterwards, the owner of the restaurant smelled gas and called the landlord of the building, but they neither reported it to Con Edison nor called 9-1-1.

When the contractor in charge of the work being done and the landlord's son opened the basement door, an explosion occurred, with the front of the restaurant being blown out across the street. The first emergency calls started about 3:17 PM. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "The initial impact appears to have been caused by plumbing and gas work that was occurring inside 121 Second Avenue."[4][5] Eleven other buildings were evacuated as a result of the explosion, and Con Edison turned off the gas to the area. Several days later, some residents were allowed to return to some of the vacated buildings. City officials, including de Blasio, said they suspect that leaking natural gas was the cause of the explosion.

The explosion sparked a seven alarm fire with 250 firefighters involved; four firefighters were treated for injuries.[6]

Probable cause

According to law enforcement sources, the working theory is that one or more gas lines were surreptitiously tapped over several months using a device that was attached to the gas line with hoses siphoning gas to other lines. The siphoning apparatus was dismantled or hidden on Thursday before Consolidated Edison conducted an inspection. As soon as the utility inspectors left, an attempt to resume the diversion of gas went awry, setting off the explosion.[7]

Impact

The three adjacent buildings at 119, 121, and 123 Second Avenue, on the North-West corner of East Seventh Street and Second Avenue were all completely reduced to rubble by the early morning of March 27, 2015. An adjacent building, 125 2nd Avenue, was severely damaged but is still standing.

Residents of 144 apartments in eleven buildings were evacuated. Multiple residents and families in the impacted area lost their homes.

Four restaurants were completely destroyed, all located on the first floors in the collapsed buildings: East Noodle ramen shop at 119 Second Avenue; Sushi Park, a Japanese restaurant at 121 Second Avenue; and two restaurants at 123 Second Avenue: Pommes Frites—a Belgian fries shop—and Sam's Deli. An adjacent storefront in 125 Secnd Avenue was badly damaged.[3] A month later, many businesses in the neighborhood were still recovering economically from the explosion, including six businesses, such as Burp Castle, which remained closed more than a week after the explosion and six that were destroyed in the explosion.[8] The Good Old Lower East Side, a nonprofit social organization in the neighborhood, organized fundraising and donation drives to help people affected by the explosion.[9]

Two men were killed in the explosion. The men, who had been in Sushi Park – a storefront restaurant in 121 Second Avenue – were identified as Moises Ismael Locón Yac, a 27-year-old employee of the restaurant; and Nicholas Figueroa, a 23-year-old customer on a date at the restaurant.[4][10][11] They were initially reported missing and their bodies were found dead three days later on March 29 in the debris of the explosion and fire in the 121 Second Avenue building.

Investigation

As of April 8, 2015, there has been no official statement from city officials as to the cause of the explosion. The FDNY's Fire Marshals, the NYPD's Arson and Explosive Unit, the New York City Department of Investigation, and the Manhattan District Attorney's office all conducted investigations into the incident.[12] Detectives were proposing to charge the parties responsible for the explosion with criminally negligent homicide.[13] In 2016, four people were indicted for manslaughter: Maria Hrynenko, the building's owner and her son Michael (now deceased), Athanasios Ioannidis, an unlicensed plumber, Dilber Kukic, a general contractor, and one for record tampering, Andrew Trombettas, a licensed plumber. As of March 2019, no trial date has been set.

Officials focused on plumbing and gas line work that was done in the 121 2nd Avenue building, and they were looking into whether a gas line in the building, meant only for the restaurant on the first floor, was tapped into inappropriately. There were no permits issued for work to be done at 121 2nd Avenue after November 2014, according to the New York City Department of Buildings.[5][6][14]

Two roommates who subletted an apartment at 129 2nd Avenue—three buildings away from one of the collapsed structures— reportedly planned to sue the city for 20 million dollars each.[15]

Indictments and arrests

On February 11, 2016, Cyrus Vance, Jr., the District Attorney for New York County (Manhattan) announced the indictment and arrest of five people in connection with the explosion, including building owner Maria Hrynenko and her son; a plumber who used his city license to allow others to do work for him; the unlicensed plumber who did the work; and a contractor, Dilber Kukica. The charges included manslaughter and negligent homicide. According to media reports, the indictments claim that the explosion was the result of an illegal scheme to tap a legal gas line serving the ground-floor restaurant to provide gas service to the renovated apartments on the floors above. Although lawyers for the indicted people were not immediately available for comment after the announcement of the indictments and arrests, earlier, a lawyer for the building owner had blamed Con Edison for the blast, saying that "They should have shut off the main valve."[16]

On November 14, 2019, Maria Hrynenko, 59, Athanasios "Jerry" Ioannidis, 63, and Dilber Kukic, 44, were found guilty in State Supreme court in Manhattan of manslaughter and other charges. Michael Hrynenko Jr. had also been charged, but died while awaiting trial. Andrew Trombettas, a plumber who sold his credentials to Ioannidis, pled guilty to lesser charges in January 2019.[17]

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See also

References
  1. McGeehan, Patrick; Ham, Jiha (March 28, 2015). "Months Before East Village Blast, Utility Found Gas Line Was Tapped in Dangerous Way". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  2. Brazee, Christopher D.; et al. (October 9, 2012). "East Village/Lower East Side Historic District Designation Report" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
  3. Kutner, Max (March 27, 2015). "A Slice of New York City History Goes Up in Smoke". Newsweek. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  4. Santora, Marc; Baker, Al (March 26, 2015). "East Village Explosion Ignites Fire, Fells Buildings and Injures at Least 19". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  5. McGeehan, Patrick; et al. (March 27, 2015). "Cause of East Village Blast May Have Been Improper Use of a Gas Line". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  6. Shapiro, Emily (March 27, 2015). "NYC Building Fire: Restaurant Owner Smelled Gas Before Massive Explosion, Officials Say". WABC-TV. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  7. McHeegan, Pat. "East Village Explosion Might Have Followed Attempt to Hide Gas Siphoning". The New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  8. Flamm, Matthew (April 5, 2015). "When a disaster like the East Village explosion visits your block". Crain's New York. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  9. Arino, Lisha (April 3, 2015). "Sting Donates $36K to East Village Explosion Fundraiser, Organizer Says". DNA Info. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  10. Dolan, Jim (April 5, 2015). "Crews Reach Basement In Manhattan Building Explosion Clean-Up". WABC-TV.
  11. Yee, Vivian; Otterman, Sharon (March 29, 2015). "Two Bodies Recovered at East Village Explosion Site". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  12. Sandoval, Edgar (April 3, 2015). "City probing whether East Village building owner illegally tapped into gas main as family mourns Nicholas Figueroa". New York Daily News. New York. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  13. Tracy, Thomas; Burke, Kerry; Siemaszko, Corky (April 6, 2015). "East Village gas explosion becomes homicide investigation as friends, family say goodbye to blast victim". New York Daily News. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  14. Garger, Kenneth; Schram, Jamie (April 1, 2015). "Shady gas pipe hookup found near East Village blast site". New York Post. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  15. Robbins, Christoper (April 7, 2015). "Subletters Who Sustained "Scratches" In East Village Explosion Sue For $40 Million". Gothamist. Archived from the original on April 8, 2015.
  16. Santoro, Marc and McKinley, James C, Jr. (February 11, 2016) "5 Arrested in Connection With East Village Gas Explosion" The New York Times
  17. Ransom, Jan (November 15, 2019; updated November 18,2019) "An Illegal Gas Line, a Deadly Explosion and Now Guilty Verdicts" The New York Times
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