GORGEOUS ESTABLISHMENT — the decor and atmosphere. The place gives you a feeling that you are somewhere on an old boat in the sea. Plus, the candles all over the place makes it very romantic.
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.
“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.”
Their building reopened March 28, but Bauermeister complained that the smell of smoke was so “putrid,” she didn’t want to sleep there.
Ramatowska said she got “like, five or six scratches” when she went outside to inspect the blast site. Bauermeister didn’t suffer any physical injuries — but did say she is seeing a $175-an-hour psychologist to deal with the trauma.
Buy two one-way bus tickets out of NYC and a good riddence letter in the form of a full page ad in a NYC paper for heartless opportunists Anna Ramotowska and Lucie Bauermeister (or help the real victims of a tragic multi-building fire)
There are plans for Yemenite kubaneh bread, tacos made with Jerusalem's signature mixed grill of sweetbreads, preserved lemon, and tahini, and sea bass sashimi with tabouli and tzatziki. Nathan says the team is a couple of weeks from a soft opening.
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Please join us as we come together as a community to raise money for all those affected. $5 at the door gets you awesome food from neighborhood establishments, a drink ticket, drink specials, DJs and live music. Try your luck in the raffle and win big in the silent auction! All food, entertainment and prizes are being generously donated by local businesses.
ALL proceeds from the door, raffle and auction will be donated directly to LES Ready!, a wonderful group that focuses on both preparedness training and recovery in the event of a disaster, and works specifically with residents of the Lower East Side and the East Village. LES Ready! has generously agreed to earmark the funds contributed from this event specifically for those displaced by the explosion and fire. It will be used to help families and residents pay for security deposits and rent in their new homes, as well as related expenses.
In addition to murder — which carries a maximum 25 years to life in the slammer — other charges said to be under consideration include second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Name: Kecia (and Hazel)
Occupation: Nurse
Location: Tompkins Square Park
Time: 4:30 pm on Tuesday, March 17
I’m a nurse at Bellevue. I used to be in the ER, but I just changed to the baby unit. I’ve been a nurse for about 15 years and I’ve moved here around two or three years ago. I live in the Baruch Houses on Delancey Street, but I’m originally from Brooklyn.
My family lived in Brooklyn for a long time. My parents came from the islands. My dad settled in the Saratoga area of Brooklyn from Jamaica and then he sent for my mother and two siblings. I’m the youngest of seven.
I have family on Avenue A and some people on Avenue C, and then in the Baruch Houses, so I used to come here when I was younger. There’s been a very rapid change, for the better though. I always say for the better. Now I walk these streets with no problem, no fear and no trepidation.
When I used to come here to visit family as a child, it was drug infested. Not to say that the drugs are gone, because they’re not, but they’re not as prevalent. The buildings were dilapidated, garbage everywhere. It was not so much scary, but you had to know people in order for things to not happen to you. You can’t really talk much about the rats because they’re still here. They’re infinite. But it was still very family oriented. In the summertime we’d go over to the East River Park and have picnics. The family would pack picnics and we’d go over there and play basketball and soccer and different things like that.
The area itself — it’s so up and coming. I can [relate to] that because the same thing happened in Brooklyn. I really couldn’t afford Brooklyn prices anymore. I was in Crown Heights, which is a very popular neighborhood now. The gentrification has taken over to the point where people are being pushed out. I had a beautiful apartment, beautiful – high ceilings, fireplace and when I came around here I had to lose a lot of things. But at the same time I still enjoy it because it reminds me a lot of Brooklyn.
Family also brought me here and I took advantage of it when I got the opportunity to come over, because I felt comfortable in the area. I enjoy it. Everything is in proximity. I walk everywhere. I walk to work in the morning. I walk with my dog all the time. This is Hazel’s favorite dog park. She loves it here.
On behalf of the entire Tuome team, we are relieved to announce that we plan to reopen the restaurant within approximately two weeks following renovations to repair the damages from the kitchen fire we experienced on March 29.
We are very sorry to have disappointed our new and existing guests during this unexpected closure, and we are remarkably grateful to all who have been so supportive since we opened in August 2014. We look forward to reopening as soon as our renovation and cleanup have been completed. Thank you all for your concern and support — we're excited to reopen and to welcome you back to Tuome.
In Queens, where Mr. Locón lived in a rented room decorated with images of his adopted city, the Guatemalan Consulate had arranged a funeral at the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has connections to Guatemalans in Jamaica, as well as the wake in Brooklyn. It had been up to Mr. Locón’s three brothers and his cousin, far from their family in Guatemala, to take care of everything else.
“He was just working,” Mr. Locón’s cousin, Pablo Yac, 23, said during the wake. “I’m crying for him.”
Mr. Locón’s brother Alfredo, 30, stood off to one side, trying to organize things. He was the oldest, the one who had tried to take care of his brothers in New York. Asked if he knew that people had been donating to a fund for the family, created by a woman in the East Village, Alfredo nodded. “We’re thankful for everything that people have done for us,” he said, his voice breaking.
“I’m always going to miss him. I love him. He was my best friend,” he said, distraught. “He was a very good person. Everyone loved him very much.”
When they went outside to see what had happened, glass was flying, and Ramotowska said she got “like, five or six scratches” on the back of her left hand when she used it to protect her face.
The roomies ran back to grab their valuables, including Ramotowska’s pet Pomeranian, Darnell, and a fur coat that had belonged to Baumeister’s grandma.
Baumeister said she couldn’t sleep and lost her appetite after the blast and started seeing a $175-an-hour psychologist who recommended at least six to eight more weeks of counseling.
After a disaster like the deadly Second Avenue explosion and fire, impacted small businesses struggle to survive. #SaveNYC is holding a Small Biz Crawl along Second Avenue to bring customers, cash and attention to those mom-and-pops in need. This weekend, we’ll do the western side of Second Avenue; next time, the eastern side.
Meet #SaveNYC on Saturday, April 11, at noon. We’re starting at Gem Spa on the northwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark’s Place. Buy your magazines, newspapers and egg creams at this first stop. From there, we’ll head down toward 7th Street. Do some gift shopping at Himalayan Visions. Then it’s lunch at the B&H Dairy or Paul’s Da Burger Joint. Your choice. After lunch, we’ll weave our way across the barricades of 7th Street to stock up on groceries at the New Yorkers Foodmarket. Please bring your #SaveNYC sign to let everyone know who we are and why we’re there. Click here to print out signs — and to find out more about #SaveNYC.
The flagship 1,000 square-foot space ... will include a restaurant with 10 tables. There will also be Tuscan food and wine for sale along with a boutique offering fashion items, including custom-made shirts and jackets.
Nicholas Figueroa was the kind of man fathers would want to marry their daughters, his Scoutmaster said at his wake...
“He was very young, so motivated,” Luis Benitez said as services got under way. “He was a pillar of the community.”
"It's devastating," Neal Figueroa said. "There are no words adequate to describe my brother. This room speaks for itself. Look at all these people who have come to honor my brother."
"He had all the love for everybody," his father, Nixon Figueroa said. "Everywhere he goes he gave a good smile, he brought life into people. He was a caring kid."
