Blast, fire erupt in NYC's East Village; 19 hurt

NEW YORK — A probable gas leak sparked an explosion Thursday collapsed one building, destroyed another another and damaged two more in Manhattan's East Village, city authorities said.

The blast and seven-alarm fire injured at least 19 people, including four civilians hospitalized in critical condition, fire officials said. The injury count also included four firefighters and one paramedic or emergency medical technician, they said shortly before midnight.

"Our thoughts and our prayers are with every one of them and their families," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news conference near the scene at Second Avenue, between East Seventh Street and St. Marks Place. "And of course, we are praying that no other individuals are found injured, and that there are no fatalities."

He said the preliminary evidence "suggests a gas-related explosion," but cautioned that the "investigation is on-going."

The mayor said plumbing and gas work had been underway inside 121 Second Ave., where the blast occurred.

Consolidated Edison President Craig Ivey said a utility crew had been at 121 Second Ave. around 2 p.m. to evaluate a new gas meter that had been installed to upgrade for larger service to the building.

"The new installation did not pass our inspection at that time," he said, meaning it wasn't ready for gas service to resume.

The preliminary investigation showed that neither Con Ed nor 911 received any calls about a gas smell at the building before the blast, de Blasio said.

The first 911 call about an explosion came in at 3:17 p.m., and Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said firefighters arrived within three minutes. They were met with "a scene they certainly didn't expect -- to see that this explosion blew the front of 121 (Second Ave.) across the street"

For the next 15 minutes firefighters searched 121 Second Ave. and 123 Second Ave. for any victims. Both are mixed-use, residential-commercial buildings with street-level restaurants. But firefighters were forced to retreat when the buildings began to collapse, Nigro said.

Officials and witnesses described a scene of chaos as residents, workers and others in the buildings scrambled to get to safety. Nigro said most got out on their own. It could not immediately be determined how many had been inside the buildings at the time.

Officials said 123 Second Ave. collapsed entirely, and 121 Second Ave. -- which featured the Sushi Park restaurant -- was destroyed by the explosion and ensuing blaze. Adjoining buildings at 119 and 125 Second Avenue also suffered damage related to the fire and collapses. Nigro said 119 was fully involved in flames and was also in danger of possible collapse late Thursday afternoon.

The inferno erupted at 121 Second Ave. and then spread through the roof to 123 Second Ave.

"I heard a big boom, and everybody went to see what had happened," said Kate Walter, who had been eating in Veselka, a nearby Ukrainian restaurant. "It looked like the front of the building had fallen down."

Walter said she returned to the eatery, but, hearing more fire sirens, went back to the disaster scene about 20 minutes later and saw that "both buildings were completely on fire."

Matty Disilvestro, a 51-year-old construction worker, told the New York Post that he felt "the pressure of the blast" from a block away.

"I heard a loud explosion, just a very loud vibrating boom. ... People who were on the sidewalks and even people on the opposite side of the street were hit with debris," he told the newspaper.

Three workers from the Pommes Frites restaurant at 123 Second Ave. stood in apparent shock as firefighters, police and rescue crews rushed in.

The men, their faces flecked with soot and dust, said they'd been inside when the disaster occurred, and did not know whether everyone in the restaurant had managed to get out.

Hours later, Pommes Frites tweeted that the restaurant staff and customers were safe.

Another man said he heard the explosion while standing in a nearby barbecue restaurant.

"It was like an earthquake kinda sound," Miles Barber tells WNYC. "But then nothing after that, so we're like, 'Uh oh. What's going on?' So everyone runs out of the restaurant and you can just see the building like, the windows, everything just falling over like almost going into the street."

At one point, firefighters — using aerial ladders to stream the water — were forced to pull back because of the intensity of the flames. The front of the building collapsed shortly afterward and raised fears that a second building would also fall.

Scott Westerfield posted footage on YouTube of flames shooting into the sky from the roof of the structure. The video was also posted by WNYC.

The NYFD, in a tweet, described the incident as a seven-alarm fire and a "mixed occupancy major building collapse."

The last previous major gas explosion in the city's five boroughs was in March 2014, when eight died and about 50 were injured by a blast that leveled two buildings on Park Avenue in East Harlem. That's roughly five miles north of Thursday's disaster.

A continuing federal investigation of the earlier explosion is focusing on a relatively new section of plastic pipe Con Edison installed at the East Harlem site, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.

Contributing: Doug Stanglin in McLean, Va.