RIP Nicholas Figueroa

The family of Nicholas Figueroa confirmed today that his body was found in the rubble of 121 Second Ave. He was 23.

According to various media accounts, Figueroa was on a date at Sushi Park with 22-year-old Teresa Galarce at the time of the blast that ultimately leveled three buildings. Galarce, a co-worker at Bowlmor Lanes at Chelsea Piers, suffered a broken nose, broken rib and punctured lung during the explosion that authorities believe was caused by leaking natural gas.

Figueroa was a December graduate of SUNY Buffalo State with a degree in criminal justice.

College friends told The Wall Street Journal that he liked to go kayaking, rock climbing and hot-air ballooning. And he loved salsa.

"He wasn’t a very good dancer," one friend said.

"But he got better," said the other.

He was the oldest of four brothers.

"He is one of those people that lives life to the fullest. He's always happy," his brother Neal told the Daily News several days ago.

Said his brother Tyler on Friday: "Nicholas is a happy-go-lucky guy. He loves to experience adventures and go on crazy adventures. He's got the biggest, brightest smile, too. I don't even know why he was at a sushi restaurant. I thought he was a vegetarian."

Figueroa had just paid the couple's bill at the back of the restaurant when the explosion rocked the building.

Authorities recovered a second body today, though they have not made a positive ID. The other missing man is Moises Ismael Locón Yac, who worked at Sushi Park.

Updated: There is a GoFundMe campaign set up to help the Figueroa pay for funeral expenses.

Legal clinic tomorrow night for displaced residents of 2nd Avenue and East 7th Street

GOLES is sponsoring the meeting, held at 535 E. Fifth St between Avenue and Avenue B.

H/T Stacie Joy

Report: Searchers recover 2nd body from site of blast on 2nd Avenue

[Photo earlier today via Vinny and O]

This in from ABC-7 just after 4 p.m.:

Police say two bodies have been discovered in the rubble of an apparent gas explosion that leveled three buildings in Manhattan's East Village. The identification process is pending.

Two men in their 20's have been unaccounted for since the blast, Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Lucon.

An East Village tribute

Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone effected by the East Village fire - Centre-fuge by @cramcept #centrefuge #centrefugepublicartproject

A photo posted by Centre-fuge Public Art Project (@centrefugepublicartproject) on Mar 28, 2015 at 2:39pm PDT

Report: FDNY will need a week to go through 2nd Avenue blast site

[Photo today by Vinny and O]

Three days after the reported gas explosion jolted Second Avenue and East Seventh Street, emergency responders continue to work 24/7 at the site of the blast that eventually took down three buildings.

According to the Post today:

The FDNY said it would take a week to go through the ruins, with first responders working around-the-clock while dogs sniff the debris.

“It’s going to be slow and arduous to dig out, search through the rubble,” FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro said.

#FDNY operations have continued in the #EastVillage throughout the weekend & will continue as long as needed. pic.twitter.com/2WT3HapkfZ

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 29, 2015

Two men, Nicholas Figueroa, 23, and Moises Lucon, 27, remain missing.

We'll continue to update this story …

Howl! Happening opens today on East 1st Street

Howl! Happening, a new gallery and performance space, makes its debut today at 6 E. First St. between the Bowery and Second Avenue…

The exhibit "Arturo Vega American Treasure" runs through April 25.



You can read more about the space here.

Legally dump your old electronics today at Tompkins Square Park

The e-waste recycling event is underway on Avenue A between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street … until 4 p.m.


[Photo by EVG reader Robert F.]

The e-wasters are accepting: Computers, monitors, printers, TVs… and everything listed on the flyer…

It's your chance to properly dispose of this!


(And this isn't what the cranes are on Avenue A right now…

Laszlo and Lulu are missing

Several readers told us that new flyers are up for these missing cats… who lived with their owner in a building adjacent to 119-123 Second Ave.

Report of a fire at 540 E. 5th St.

[Photo via @girluninterrupt]

MAN ALL HANDS 540 E 5 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 1ST FLR,

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 29, 2015

Lots of @FDNY at 5/b, scaling building with minca ramen and tuome restaurant on ground floor. #EastVillage

— Salim (@salim) March 29, 2015

Updated 10:42 a.m.

MAN ALL HANDS 540 E 5 ST, MIXED OCCUPANCY FIRE ON 1ST FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 29, 2015

2nd Avenue update (March 29)

[Photo yesterday by Derek Berg]

The latest headlines

Possibility of criminal charges in New York City building collapse growing (ABC News)

Months before East Village blast, utility found gas line was tapped in dangerous way (The New York Times)

Investigators question whether cause of East Village explosion is criminal (WABC-7)

East Village explosion underscores city's infrastructure woes (Crain's)

Heartless visitors snap selfies at East Village blast site (New York Post)

Donations and Services

• The Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC continues to collect donations to help address the needs of residents displaced by the explosion. Find the website here with more details.

• A parishioner from Church of the Nativity, Mildred Guy, lost her home in the fire. Today, Nativity will be collecting clothes, sheets and funds for displaced victims from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Donations will be going to the Red Cross. The Church is at 44 Second Ave. between East Second Street and East Third Street.

• Theater for the New City on First Avenue is offering FREE clothing from their costume collection ("costume" street wear) to its neighbors displaced by the explosion. They have coats, jackets and other clothing. Call 212-254-1109 to make an appointment.

• From 5-8 p.m. today, Professor Thom's is hosting a fundraiser for their Second Avenue neighbors. Per a Professor Thom's manager: "100 percent of all donations collected will go directly to helping our neighbors who have been affected by this."

The Loft at Professor Thom's (219 2nd Avenue between East 13th Street and East 14th Street) A $25 donation gets a bracelet for $1 well drinks & domestic beer, $2 wine and imported beer.

• EVG reader Sierra writes in to say:

We have an apartment on 9th Street and Avenue C. We can easily live in half of it as it's currently two apartments not yet combined. Our home is furnished and completely private. A single person or couple would be best for the size of the space. We can offer a two-week stay, just ask for proof of address.

Email her here

• EVG reader Gojira also has an extra room for a displaced resident. "I have a large, unused room in my apartment, free to a displaced single or couple, but you must be okay with cats. Email me here. I can host for a month. Proof of address required."

• A displaced resident named Alex left this comment on a previous post:

Hello! I live at E 41 7th, and we are displaced and awaiting news. If anyone is interested in volunteering anything, you can contact the Red Cross...or take things to 169 Avenue B. They already have lots of things. But as a displaced person who will most likely be in long term shelter for a while, a few things that needed (and got elsewhere! Yay!), but others may need are: ear plugs and eye masks (for sleeping in shared housing), slippers, pajamas, mittens/gloves/hates/scarves (I had a coat, but didn't need gloves on Thursday when I left, but needed them today). New underwear & simple socks. Laundry detergent, even small containers of it, shower caps, bathrobes, travel things, small individual instant coffee things, simple cups/mugs, plates & cutlery (I'm in shelter and got food, but don't have a cup for coffee).

• Manhattan Mini Storage is offer free storage for displaced residents. Details here

Moments after the 2nd Avenue explosion

Photographer Nathan Blaney happened to be near Second Avenue and East Seventh Street at the time of the explosion Thursday afternoon.

He shared these photos with us… several photos show off-duty firefighter Mike Shepherd (in baseball cap) and Second Avenue resident Austin Branda climb the fire escape above Sushi Park to help rescue a stranded resident and search for others… Minutes later, No. 121 catches on fire...

Love and loss along 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Vinny and O]

From an essay by East Village resident Sarah Larson in The New Yorker...

As I write this, at my apartment, the sound of helicopters overhead is constant, and two people who were in the sushi restaurant, Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locon, are known to be missing. Some two dozen were injured, four critically. And whole buildings are gone. On Twitter, people were lamenting the loss of their beloved Pommes Frites, the late-night standby that made its corner of the world smell like French fries. Other people on Twitter berated the frites lamenters, and still others pleaded for understanding between the two camps. We could mourn all of these losses, they said.

I agree. It’s important not to be glib. It’s important to focus on the missing, the injured, the brave people who escaped and helped others escape, and the people who lost their homes and businesses. The softer losses, the cultural losses, the neighborhood losses, are not as important. But they’re losses, too. They’re things we love — parts of our lives that we take for granted and now understand to be, or have been, vulnerable. They feel like trivial things, but they represent fundamental things: what we love and care about, their permanence and impermanence.

Read the whole article here.

Con Ed's latest statement, and the latest theory on the 2nd Avenue explosions

[Photo Thursday by Peter Brownscombe]

The statement is dated last evening at 6:15 … via the Con Ed newsroom…

Con Edison this morning shut off gas to 219 customers (187 residential; 32 commercial) in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan while the Fire Department of New York continues recovery work at the site of yesterday’s explosion and buildings collapse on 2nd Avenue near 7th Street.

Meantime, we keep the missing and injured in our thoughts and prayers.

As we do in all cases when a customer is upgrading to a new gas service, we conducted careful inspections at 121 2nd Avenue. Our records show the work of the building’s plumber failed two inspections, including the inspection our personnel conducted yesterday afternoon. At no time was use of the new service line authorized by Con Edison. That service was locked to ensure that it would not be used. The ground-floor restaurant was being served by its current, smaller gas service line.

Con Edison continues to work with the FDNY and NYPD to restore service to customers as soon as it is deemed safe. We have contacted the customers shut off today and have also established an incident workgroup to focus 24/7 on the needs and concerns of all customers who live in the impacted zone.

Safety is always our priority, and we continue to urge people to call 9-1-1 or their gas utility immediately if they smell a gas odor.

The New York Times has an updated story on the explosion. They spoke with Sushi Park owner Hyeonil Kim, who "wondered how the apartments upstairs in the five-story building at 121 Second Avenue had been getting hot water and gas for cooking. The only gas line coming into the building had been dedicated to his restaurant, he said."

Mr. Kim said he believed tenants had started moving into the building’s upstairs floors last summer, after the landlord, Maria Hrynenko, completed renovations. He said he suspected they were getting their gas from the neighboring building, 119 Second Avenue, which city records show is also owned by Ms. Hrynenko. She did not return calls for comment on Friday. Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested at a news conference on Friday that city officials had a similar suspicion.

Read the full article here.

To date, two people remain missing… 23-year-old Nicholas Figueroa, who was eating at Sushi Park, and 26-year-old Moises Lucon, a busboy at the restaurant.


[Nicholas Figueroa]


[Moises Lucon photo via PIX]

The Post has more about both men here.

2nd Avenue this morning

[Looking south from East 14th Street]

Second Avenue remains closed below East 14th Street while crews continue to work at the site of the fallen buildings at East Seventh Street. Cross streets are open (except for St. Mark's and Seventh Street).


[Photo at East 6th Street by Vinny and O]

As of 8:15 a.m., or so, the usual Second Avenue businesses were open, such as Veselka, Starbucks, Fresco Gelateria, East Village Meats and Stage. Gem Spa is open, though you need to enter from St. Mark's Place.

It appears that the 13th Step just north of East Ninth Street will be open today. They were getting a Budweiser delivery…



We also hear that the New Yorkers Market (ex Met Foods) at 107 Second Ave. between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street will be open.


[Looking north from East Houston]