Explosion stories: East Village business owners bond, and look to an uncertain future

[Photo from East 7th Street today via Vinny & O]

Representatives from nearly a dozen East Village businesses that were either destroyed or damaged in the deadly gas explosion on Second Avenue on March 26 met this morning to offer support and advice ... and talk about the future.

Here is some coverage from The New York Times:

Tarun Kundu’s nearly 20-year-old copy shop, tucked around the corner, at 45 East 7th Street, was crushed when the building it occupied, 119 Second Avenue, came toppling down.

“I have nothing, in my store is everything,” said Mr. Kundu, a Bangladeshi immigrant who has three daughters and lives in Woodside, Queens.

And...

“We’re alive,” said Roop Bring, the owner of Sam’s Deli, a bodega that operated for decades on the ground floor of 123 Second Avenue ... before being destroyed as a result of the explosion, which, according to the authorities, erupted in the basement next door, at 121 Second Avenue. “That’s what important.”

DNAinfo, WPIX and Bedford + Bowery also provided coverage of the meeting held at Café Mocha.