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April 9, 2015 Prachi Gupta

The two East Village women suing the city for $40 million despite emerging from the blast unscathed may be opportunists, but the person who has launched a campaign against them is not much better. EV Grieve shared a GoFundMe campaign that aims to “Evict Fire Victim Bilkers from NYC” and it has already raised $120 […]

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April 7, 2015 Prachi Gupta

Two women who lived in an apartment in 129 Second Avenue, next to the buildings that collapsed in the East Village explosion in late March, are suing the city for $20 million — each — for physical and mental damages. The blast killed 2 people and injured nearly 2 dozen others, sending 4 people to […]

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April 6, 2015 Liam Mathews

An unidentified plumber has admitted to illegally tapping the gas line at 121 2nd Avenue, the site of March 26th’s fatal explosion. The New York Post reports that the plumber confessed to rigging an illegal hookup to supply gas to the building’s upstairs apartments under the orders of Michael Hrynenko Jr., the landlord’s son. “Investigators […]

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April 3, 2015 Liam Mathews

Pommes Frites was a beloved East Village institution located at 123 2nd Ave before its building was destroyed in last week’s gas explosion, but it could return again: the french fry shop’s owners posted a note on their website and Facebook page asking for donations to help them rebuild, Eater first reported. The note reads: […]

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Prachi Gupta

Novelist Alan Kaufman is drumming up support for the victims of the East Village fire, including getting a sizable $36,000 donation from musician Sting and his wife Trudy Styler. The donation was made as part of a larger effort to engage both celebrities and the local community in rehabilitating the Second Avenue block that lost […]

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April 1, 2015 Prachi Gupta

ABC7 reports that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is now “fully engaged” in the investigation of the East Village blast. “This is going to be a slow, methodical investigation,” a law enforcement source told the New York Post. “We will be talking to everybody — witnesses, the contractor, the plumbers and landlord, gas experts — […]

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March 30, 2015 Prachi Gupta

Firefighters have uncovered two bodies from the site of the East Village wreckage, the New York Times reports. One of the bodies has been identified as 23-year-old Nicholas Figueroa, who was on a lunch date at Sushi Park when the Second Avenue building exploded. The other man is thought to be 27-year-old Moises Ismael Locón […]

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March 27, 2015 Prachi Gupta

As of Friday morning, about “200 firefighters and medical staff” are at the scene of the East Village blast that took out 3 buildings and ignited a seven-alarm fire on Thursday afternoon, CBS reports. A fourth building was badly damaged by the fire. Latest estimates say that at least 25 people were injured — 4 […]

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