As difficult as it is to believe, a year has gone by since the horrific gas explosion occurred on the corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street in New York. On March 26th, 2015 the East Village was changed irrevocably by a preventable tragedy. Now, a year later, the community came together just outside the site of the explosion to honor and remember the event. As neighbors, police, and firemen gathered in the street, the block became a place for reflection. What happened needs to be remembered, so that future disasters can be avoided.
In April of 2014, the company in charge of delivering natural gas, electricity, and steam in New York City (Con Edison) discovered that someone was illegally tapping into gas line that served “Sushi Park." a Japanese restaurant located on 121 Second Ave. Con Edison turned off the gas for 10 days and removed the taps. Flashing forward to March of 2015, Con Edison was installing a new gas line to service the apartments in 121 Second Ave, but it didn’t pass inspection due to reasons related to safety. The inspectors left the building at 2:45pm on March 26th. The first emergency calls recording the explosion came in around 3:17pm.
The gas line in question had exploded, sparking a seven alarm fire. 250 firefighters were called onto the scene and four were treated for injuries. The gas explosion caused three buildings, 119, 121, and 123 Second Avenue, to be completely reduced to rubble, with severe damage occurring to the surrounding buildings as well. Four food related businesses were destroyed, all located on the first floor, including Pomme Frites and East Noodle Ramen Shop. Two lives were lost to the gas explosion, Moises Ismael Locon Yac, a 27-year-old employee of the restaurant “Sushi Park,” and Nicholas Figueroa, a 23-year-old customer on a date.
Residents of 144 apartments from eleven buildings were evacuated from their homes, including the NYU residence hall located across the street on 40 East Seventh Street (Greenhouse). All of the residents were called immediately and told to evacuate, the faculty trying to account for all the students. Luckily, no NYU individuals were harmed in the explosion, despite the close proximity. For safety reasons, the students living in Greenhouse were housed for the next four days in Palladium, an upperclassman residence hall located off of Union Square. The students slept in the lobby of the Palladium gym and were unable to get back into the Seventh Street building for anything at all until Saturday, when they were allowed back into the building once a day.
Talking with Stefanie Roman, who was a Resident Assistant in the building at the time, it is clear this was a time when NYU being “In and Of the City” resulted in students facing a difficult situation. Certainly, NYU did it’s best to accommodate the students while they were unable to get back into their homes, but having to deal with this stress of a tragedy on top of midterms is not something the typical college student will encounter. Roman remembers the time as stressful, but ultimately something that she has been able to grown from. On the nights spent in the gym, she looks back at a particularly emotional moment.
“I couldn't really sleep, I was supposed to take care of my residents and I also had a physics midterm the next day so I was trying to study. I remember, one of my residents came to the gym where we were staying for the night, and he told me that he was right across the street when it happened and he got a little blown back from the explosion. But yeah, it pretty much sucked.”
The building owner and three others are currently facing manslaughter charges for the illegal tapping of the gas line, hidden from the Con Edison Inspectors. The tapping of the gas line was part of an alleged scheme to raise rent in the apartments in 121 Second Avenue.
There is legislation being introduced to city council, seeking to go after negligent landlords.
