News

New York

East Harlem building explosion

The family of a musician from Greece killed in last month's Park Avenue gas explosion has filed a claim against the city for $50 million over his death, said an attorney handling the case. 
Lisbeth D. Perez, the wife of Andreas Panagopoulos -- one of eight people killed in the March 12 explosion that leveled two buildings -- filed the notice of claim with the city comptroller's office Wednesday. The filing of a notice of claim is the first step toward filing a lawsuit. 
Under state law, notices of claims must be filed against a municipality before any lawsuit is commenced. This requirement allows the city time to investigate a claim and make settlement offers. 
According to the notice, Panagopoulos, 43, suffered many injuries, including "multiple fractures of his entire body, blunt force trauma, pain and suffering," as well as fear of impending death. Perez is also making a claim for burial expenses and the loss of her husband's financial and emotional support, the notice stated. 
Panagopoulos, a U.S. citizen, was buried in Greece where his parents reside, said family attorney Stavros E. Sitinas. 
While the claim by Perez is only at this point against New York City, any resulting lawsuit could also include Con Edison, the building owner and others, said Sitinas. The National Transportation Safety Board said that a gas leak caused the blast, which leveled 1644 and 1646 Park Avenue in Manhattan. The NTSB is doing an in-depth study to determine the precise cause of the explosion. 
Nicole Turso, a spokeswoman for city Comptroller Scott Stringer, said she wasn't aware of the Perez claim, which was filed April 9. Turso said a total of at least 12 notices of claim had been filed over the gas explosion, mostly for property and vehicle damage. The daughter of Griselde Camacho, 48, who also died in the explosion, filed a claim for $20 million on April 2, records show.

NYPARK11

Family of Harlem blast victim files $50 million claim against NYC

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The federal investigation into the deadly East Harlem buildings explosion entered a new phase Friday as officials prepared to pressure-test natural gas lines in the area.
Officials said tests done after the Wednesday morning blast found high concentrations of gas in the ground.
At least five of more than 50 test holes dug by Con Edison workers at the scene indicated the presence of 5 percent to 20 percent natural gas in air samples, officials said.
"This further leads to the hypothesis that this may well have been a natural gas leak," said National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt.
Sumwalt said there shouldn't be any gas in the samples.
Two days after the thunderous blast that felled two five-story apartment buildings at East 116th Street and Park Avenue, lingering hot spots in the rubble were doused, ending the plume of smoke that had choked the neighborhood.
Authorities yesterday confirmed the deaths of eight people and said all known victims have been accounted for. Seven of the victims have been identified.
Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said 60 percent to 70 percent of the debris pile has been cleared from the site, allowing investigators to get closer to the basements -- where they expect to learn more about how the blast occurred.
Despite round-the-clock work, fire officials indicated it could be two days before investigators can safely gather evidence and conduct leak tests on the gas distribution line that runs along Park Avenue, Sumwalt said.
In the meantime, Con Edison workers, under the supervision of the NTSB, will perform pressure tests on a distribution line along East 116th Street, between Park and Madison avenues. 
The tests will tell authorities if that pipe is leaking, Sumwalt said. If not, it can be turned back on so residents who had to evacuate nearby buildings can return. 
The main line running along Park is made of 8-inch cast iron with half-inch-thick walls. It was installed in 1887, but age should not matter if the pipe was properly maintained, officials said.
Sumwalt urged people who smelled gas or witnessed the blast to email investigators at witness@NTSB.gov.
John McAvoy, CEO of Con Edison, has said the utility searched its records going back three years and found only two calls about gas problems on the block where the explosion took place, and both of those, in 2011 and 2013, were problems with the customer's equipment.
The tragedy has generated an outpouring of support for the victims and their families.
A half-dozen women gathered Friday morning at the corner of 116th Street and Lexington Avenue and began praying aloud in Spanish.
Former President Bill Clinton, who has an office on 125th Street, dropped by and talked briefly to rescue workers.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the Real Estate Board has arranged for 34 apartments on the East Side "to be available for up to three months . . . and is working with city housing agencies to seek out long-term housing arrangements," officials said.
The city medical examiner's office said autopsies have been conducted on seven of the victims killed in the blast and the deaths have all been ruled "accidental."
While officials don't expect to find any trapped survivors or additional bodies, Cassano said emergency workers are treating the site "like there still could be somebody in there."
The people killed in the explosion have been identified as Griselde Camacho, 45, a Hunter College security officer; Carmen Tanco, 67, a dental hygienist; Andreas Panagopoulos, 43, a musician; Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, 21, a restaurant cook; her mother, Rosaura Barrios Vazquez, 43; George Ameado, 44, a handyman; and Alexis Salas, 22, a restaurant worker and John Jay College of Criminal Justice student.
The medical examiner's office released the following causes of death: Camacho, blunt impact injuries to head and torso; Ameado, blunt impact injuries to torso and extremities.
Hernandez-Barrios died of smoke inhalation and burns; Barrios Vazquez, blunt force trauma of the head, torso and extremities; Tanco, burns and blunt injuries to the head, torso and extremities; Panagopoulos, blunt injuries to the head, neck and torso; Salas, smoke inhalation and burns.
The city is sheltering 66 people made homeless by the blast, who will be placed in hotels and affordable housing, officials said.
Shortly before De Blasio addressed reporters yesterday outside the Salvation Army shelter at 125th Street and Third Avenue, residents lugging pillows, bags of clothing and other possessions made their way in.
So far, 55 displaced families -- with more than 100 individuals -- have registered with the city for assistance.
"We will stand by them every step of the way," the mayor said. "We will not let them fall."
With Ellen Yan, Matthew Chayes, Anthony M. DeStefano and John Valenti

NYBLAS15

Feds: Test digs at East Harlem explosion site showed high gas levels

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City officials said an eighth body was found in the still-smoldering rubble of the East Harlem buildings explosion Thursday, and revealed that there was no history of complaints about gas leaks before the explosion that leveled two apartment houses. 
Officials from Con Edison, the NYPD and the FDNY all said they found no record of official complaints about a gas smell prior to the one that came minutes before the Wednesday blast. 
National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said the pipe attached to the main gas main was still intact and the cause of the explosion remains a mystery. 
Police have found surveillance videos that captured the blast. An examination of those recordings by neighborhood security cameras may provide clues as to how the explosion occurred. 
Sumwalt, who briefed reporters near the scene at East 116th Street and Park Avenue, described the blast as "devastating," adding, "You've got basically two five-story buildings that have been reduced to essentially a three-story pile of bricks and twisted metal." 
Police identified the dead as: Griselde Camacho, 44, a Hunter College security officer; Carmen Tanco, 67, a dental hygienist who took part in church-sponsored medical missions to Africa and the Caribbean; and they told The Associated Press that Andreas Panagopoulos, 43, a musician, had also been killed. The NYPD said Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, 21, a restaurant cook from Mexico; her mother, Rosaura Barrios, 44; George Ameado, 44, a handyman who lived in one of the collapsed buildings; and Alexis Salas, 22, a restaurant worker, were also among the dead. 
City officials Thursday night would not say how many people remained unaccounted for. The city is sheltering 66 people made homeless by the blast, who will be placed in hotels and affordable housing, officials said. 
As the investigation into the blast's cause went forward, John McAvoy, chief executive of Con Edison, said the utility searched its records going back three years and found only two calls about gas problems on the block where the explosion took place, and both of those, in 2011 and 2013, were problems with the customer's equipment. 
FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said his agency checked records for the past 30 days and found no reports of gas leaks in the immediate area. 
McAvoy said the building's gas pipes were inspected Feb. 10 and 28 and "no leaks were identified at that time." 
The report of a gas smell came from a lone caller at 9:13 a.m. Wednesday, and Con Ed dispatched workers at 9:15 a.m. The explosion happened at 9:31 a.m., before the crew arrived at the building. 
McAvoy said that if more people had reported the gas leak in East Harlem, "there's a very high likelihood" the fatal explosion could have been prevented. 
The call had been classified as "low" priority instead of urgent, which would have alerted the fire department while utility crews responded, McAvoy said. 
In a news conference, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said the department "viewed our calls from 311 and 911 back to 2010. They had no record of any calls relative to gas leaks in that area." 
Once conditions become safer, investigators will run a pressure test on the gas-distribution line that runs along Park Avenue, Sumwalt said. 
The line did not show any "obvious to the eye" damage from what officials could see after a sinkhole opened in front of the buildings and after parts of the street were excavated, he said. If no leaks are found, service lines from the distribution pipe to the buildings will be tested, he said. 
About 150 firefighters were still struggling Thursday to control lingering hot spots as rescuers, working in still smoke-laden air, sifted through piles of debris at 1644 and 1646 Park Ave. to look for victims at a site that became more precarious Wednesday night when a remaining back wall of one of the buildings burned. 
"I've seen an occasional flare-up of fire, and the smell of smoke is omnipresent," Sumwalt added. "All of this underscores that this is an active search-and-recovery operation." 
Mayor Bill de Blasio said city officials have ratcheted up the search for answers as residents mourned the loss of loved ones and their homes. 
"We know there was an explosion; we don't know everything about the lead-up to it and that is why we are doing a thorough investigation," he said. 
Investigators want to pinpoint whether the infrastructure was to blame or the leak stemmed from someplace else. They also want to know if a water-main break, which caused a sinkhole in the area, played a role. 
Robert Malanga, an engineer who specializes in fires and explosions, said the surveillance footage could indicate if the explosion began in the upper or lower stories of the buildings, a clue to how long gas was leaking. 
"If you had a slow developing leak, it would tend to migrate to the upper part of the building and reach explosive limits," Malanga said. "A rapidly developing leak would tend to center down closer to the ground."

NYBLAS14

Videos captured East Harlem blast; 8th body recovered

Digging through debris with heavy equipment will be vital to finding any survivors, recovering remains and learning what caused the deadly East Harlem gas explosion that destroyed two apartment buildings, officials said. 
"We are still looking at this as a potential rescue operation," FDNY Chief of Department Edward Kilduff said Thursday evening. 
Backhoes are clearing the hulking, 2-1/2-story debris pile at the Park Avenue scene, but Kilduff called it a "very deliberate operation because of safety concerns and the fire that is still burning." 
Kilduff estimated that crews have removed nearly half of the debris so far. 
The condition of the remaining structure is precarious, however. Of particular concern is a freestanding back wall that Kilduff said is a "significant hazard for us." Removal of the wall is being handled by a private contractor, he said. 
Kilduff said it may take a couple of days before investigators can safely access the basement, which may hold clues to what triggered the Wednesday morning blast. 
Telescoping video is being used to look for people who may be trapped in the rubble when a body is found, he said. NYPD search dogs were used early on without success. 
Avoiding remaining hot spots, rescue and recovery crews are starting at the top of the pile, then moving to the rear and inside, said Salvatore Cassano, New York City fire commissioner. Those workers have been wearing masks to avoid breathing in hazardous fumes. 
Heavy-duty evacuation equipment at the scene includes a machine known as "the grappler" that is used to move rubble. 
"We are continuing rescue operations, hoping to find others still alive," Mayor Bill de Blasio said after surveying the scene early yesterday. 
"These rescue operations will continue for an open-ended period of time," he said. "There will be disruption in the immediate area because we have to continue this rescue operation. We're very devoted to it." 
Authorities have evacuated 89 residential units and three businesses in seven nearby buildings while rescuers work, the mayor said. City building inspectors have scrutinized those structures and concluded they are not in danger of collapse. 
With Anthony M. DeStefano

NYSCEN14

Amid hot spots, heavy equipment aids East Harlem rescue effort

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At the Salvation Army on 125th Street and Third Avenue, families and neighbors displaced by the East Harlem building explosion and collapse got up Thursday morning to go to work and school, resuming their normal lives as best they could. 
Red Cross and Salvation Army vans shuttled about 19 children to their Harlem schools, and their parents reported to work after eating egg and sausage breakfast sandwiches. 
The children selected from an array of new backpacks, school supplies and clothes donated by neighbors and the nearby 23rd Precinct. 
"The families had a quiet night" on Wednesday inside the Salvation Army gymnasium, said Lt. Stephen Myes, 28, of the Salvation Army. "They rested but they were still shaken up," he said of those affected by Wednesday's explosion. Myes said the corner building, which has been a neighborhood staple for 126 years, will provide shelter until families and other displaced residents find permanent housing. 
"People were incredibly thankful to have a place to lay down with their kids," he said. "The children were really wonderful. It was like an adventure for them." 
About 70 people slept on cots in the gym, where they took showers and got clothing. He said he expected more people to arrive Thursday night. 
Mental health professionals were on hand to offer emotional support and city housing officials provided help in finding permanent housing. New Yorkers dropped off donations of water, food and clothing. 
Luis Rivera, 52, a disabled welder whose apartment was affected by the explosion, said he misses his home and few "belongings. I didn't have much. But I feel bad. I have no clothes, no money, no privacy. I had to ask for a Metro card this morning. It's the little things." 
Rivera and his girlfriend woke up when their bed shook and the windows in their apartment shattered, sending furniture flying through the apartment. He and his girlfriend have minor cuts as well as back and neck pain. 
"I was elevated from the impact," said Rivera, who was amazed that he was able to walk out of his apartment. "I thought it was an earthquake." 
David Mendoza, 16, who lives on the fourth floor at 89 East Park Ave., behind one of the collapsed buildings, spent the night at the shelter with his mother, aunt, uncle and cousins. 
"We're together and that's important," said Mendoza, who was able to return to his family's apartment to retrieve documents. "The whole place was covered with dust and dirt. And it smelled like gas so I couldn't stay long." 
Mendoza said work crews were replacing broken windows and he was hopeful that his family could return home in a few days, "once the heat is turned back on." He said "it was a shock to go to school in the morning and go home to a shelter. I feel bad for the people who are missing and the people who died."

NYSALV14

Salvation Army shelters displaced from E. Harlem blast

AISHA WATTS cropped

Up until the moment she was killed in an explosion of wood, steel and brick, the life of East Harlem's Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios appeared to be playing out just as she had mentally sketched it. 
Hernandez-Barrios, 21, eager and ambitious, worked as a well-regarded line cook at a French restaurant in the heart of Manhattan's theater district. She had just gotten engaged, according to a social media website. In fact, Hernandez-Barrios' February engagement was a perfect blend of two things she loved -- her work and her fiance: Her groom-to-be dropped to one knee in the kitchen of the restaurant, Triomphe, and proposed last month, according to the same post. 
"It is a sad day," said Triomphe general manager Robert Holmes Thursday. "Our kitchen staff is taking it very hard." 
Holmes said he knew quickly that Hernandez-Barrios was a gifted chef-in-training. 
"We recognized her raw talent, so when a position opened up we offered it to her," Holmes said. 
On her Facebook page Thursday night, friends wrote of their grief in English and Spanish and left notes telling their friend to "chef it up in heaven for the rest of us." 
Hernandez-Barrios was confirmed dead yesterday and last night the body of her mother, Rosaura Barrios, 44, was identified, the NYPD said. 
Naming the pair was the latest in what has been a slow and tedious process for rescuers at the still-smoldering Park Avenue pile where two apartment buildings were destroyed in Wednesday morning's gas explosion. 
Survivors of the blast, now homeless, were being helped by the American Red Cross. As of yesterday they had registered 119 people -- 28 families -- to sleep at the Salvation Army facility at East 125th Street and Third Avenue last night. 
Thursday night, the grim numbers and mood hadn't changed much from earlier in the day: eight dead, and unknown number still missing, even as more people killed were named. 
Among the dead: Andreas Panagopoulos, 43, an apartment building resident. 
Meanwhile, relatives of other possible victims continued an agonizing wait for information. 
Rosa Salas, who lived in the building with her family, said her son Jordy Salas, a junior at John Jay College, whose real first name was Alexis, was still missing yesterday. 
"We are very upset," Salas said. "We still are hopeful that we will find him alive . . . we still know absolutely nothing about him." 
Late last night, the NYPD identified her son as among the dead. Police also last night identified the body of George Ameado, 44. 
The five named yesterday followed the identification Wednesday of Carmen Tanco, 67, and Griselde Camacho, 44, 
Thursday night, clergy from the nearby Bethel Gospel Assembly gathered for a prayer vigil to honor the women. They each held day jobs but spent their off hours and weekends volunteering at the church, just blocks away from where they died. 
Tanco, a dental hygienist, church usher, and member of the food services ministry, was often seen strolling to church with a shopping cart full of food for the elderly, said Ruth-Ann Wynter, director of ministry relations at the church. 
Wynter said Camacho, a sergeant in Hunter College's public safety office and the mother of a teenage son, was part of the church's video department. 
"These were not members on the periphery," she said. 
Tanco was born in Puerto Rico and arrived in New York City when she was 18, said her cousin Diana Cortez, 56. 
Cortez said her cousin had a dedication to helping others and a weakness for carrot cake. 
"She had the biggest heart in the world," Cortez said of Tanco.

NYVICT14

Recovery continues as another victim is named

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Six people were killed and 62 injured in the East Harlem explosion that leveled two buildings Wednesday, and the search continues for nine occupants who are unaccounted for, city officials said. 
Griselde Camacho, 45, Carmen Tanco, 67 and Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, 21&nbsp;were confirmed as having died in the incident, with the fourth victim identified as a male body and a fifth and sixth victim pulled from the rubble overnight, officials said. Andreas Panagopoulos was among the nine who remained missing late early Thursday. 
The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators will focus on Con Edison's response to the gas leak that caused the blast. 
"We want to find out not only what happened, but we want to find out why it happened . . . to make sure something like this never happens again," said NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt, shortly after a team of investigators arrived at the scene Wednesday evening. 
Those investigators will look at any possible issues with the distribution pipeline that delivers natural gas to the five-story buildings and how Con Edison handled the situation, Sumwalt said. 
"We will be looking at Con Edison . . . their integrity management system, seeing how they handled complaints . . . oversight of Con Edison by federal and state officials," Sumwalt said. 
Investigators will look at Con Edison's call log and at any evidence of third-party damage by digging, he said. 
Con Edison said the utility is "going to be cooperating with all agencies." 
The explosion killed six and injured dozens of others, hurling debris onto the elevated Metro-North tracks along Park Avenue, shattering windows in the neighborhood and sending people running into the streets as a plume of smoke rose above the skyline. 
One victim was identified Wednesday night as Sgt. Griselde Camacho, a public safety worker at Hunter College. Camacho worked in the Silberman School of Social Work building. She has been a public safety officer there since 2008, Hunter College president Jennifer J. Raab said in a statement. 
"Our hearts go out to Griselde's family at this terrible time," Raab said. "We know this is a difficult time for all those who knew and worked with Sergeant Camacho, whether at the Silberman School or as part of the public safety office. All of you will be in our thoughts in the days ahead." 
The others, identified by Bethel Gospel Assembly four blocks from the site of the explosion, were members Carmen Tanco and Griselde Camacho. 
The two women each lived at 1646 Park Avenue in separate apartments, Ruth-Ann Wynter, 97-year-old Bethel's director of ministry relations, said in an interview. 
Tanco was a member for more than 20 years, Wynter said. 
"She was a faithful usher. She was definitely a bundle of energy," Wynter said. 
Camacho worked in the church's video department and operated the TelePrompTer on Sundays. 
"Her presence will definitely be missed," Wynter said. 
Wednesday, the church told its congregation about the deaths, which were confirmed before its regularly scheduled service began. 
Camacho has a teenage son, Wynter said. 
Wynter said another member of their church was injured in the explosion. 
Con Edison workers were on their way to address the leak, but "the explosion occurred before that team could arrive," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. 
"This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people," the mayor said. "From what we know now, the only indication of danger came about 15 minutes earlier, when a gas leak was reported to Con Edison." 
Among the victims, two have what are considered critical/serious, life-threatening injuries; five have serious, but not life-threatening, injuries; and 20 have minor injuries, the FDNY said. 
The FDNY said its count reflected the number of victims the department treated. City hospitals, meanwhile, reported treating 62 patients, some of whom were walk-ins. Most had minor injuries. Two FBI agents were among the injured, although those injuries were not life-threatening, according to the FBI. 
About 250 members of the FDNY were conducting a "thorough search" of the rubble, de Blasio said, adding that he expected it to be "a long operation." Those attempting to reach family or loved ones among the nine missing are urged to call 311, the mayor's office said. 
Michael Parrella, a FDNY spokesman, said the bulk of the fire that destroyed the buildings at 1644 and 1646 Park Ave. had been extinguished by Wednesday evening and firefighters were tackling hot spots among the debris. Parrella said firefighters also were simultaneously searching the debris. 
Some parts of the debris pile were not accessible "due to a sinkhole that has developed in front of the buildings due to a subsurface water main break, likely closed by the explosion," Parrella said. 
Among those missing were Andreas Panagopoulos. There has been no sign of Panagopoulos at three hospitals, leaving his family with the dreadful feeling that he might be buried in the rubble. 
"We don't know anything," Tulio Gomez, his brother-in-law, said as he waited Wednesday afternoon at a makeshift command center a block from the scene. 
Panagopoulos, 42, last spoke to his wife, Lisbeth Perez, when she called him at 8:30 a.m., about 45 minutes before the explosion. 
"They talked in the morning, and he went back to sleep," said Gomez, 43, of Queens. 
He said his brother-in-law runs his advertising company from home, a second-floor apartment at 1646 Park Ave. 
"He usually doesn't leave," Gomez said. 
The National Transportation Safety Board said it "has launched a go-team" to investigate the explosion. 
A report of a gas odor from a resident at 1652 Park Ave. came at 9:13 a.m., Con Edison said in a tweet. Con Edison crews were dispatched at 9:15 a.m. "and arrived just after explosion," the utility said in the tweet. 
The first call reporting the explosion to 911 was at 9:31 a.m. and the first firefighting unit was on the scene at 9:33 a.m., said FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano. 
Officials said there were six residential units in one building and nine in the other that were destroyed by the explosion. 
Multiple utility crews responded to the scene after the explosion, checking gas lines, "making the area safe and working closely with the FDNY," said Elizabeth Matthews, a Con Ed spokeswoman. 
On Tuesday, Ruben Borrero, 32, who has lived at 1646 Park Ave. his entire life, said he and his family complained to the landlord about a gas smell in the building. 
"We had to air out our apartment yesterday and we called 311 and they told us to file a complaint," he said. 
Borrero heard about the collapse from a friend and returned home to find his residence in rubble. 
"All I saw was an empty lot," he said in an interview at an American Red Cross shelter at PS 57 at Third Avenue and East 115 Street. "My life was in that building, my father's ashes and my family dog." 
Borrero's mother, Sarah, was at work, and his sister, Kimberly, 16, was at school during the collapse. Borrero had left in the morning to drop his son off with a baby-sitter. 
He said his family, who lived on the second floor, will stay with relatives. 
Borrero struggled to comprehend losing everything. 
"All we have is what we have on our backs," he said, adding, "I need to see what the next step is. I never lost everything. Thank God I have a lot of family and friends who I can turn to. We are starting now from scratch, from nothing. I will make sure that I will be there for my family and, amen, we are alive." 
Area hospitals reported that patients suffered mostly minor injuries. 
Dr. Kevin Chason, director of emergency management for Mount Sinai Health System, said 22 patients were taken to Mount Sinai -- about half were walk-ins, and the rest came in by ambulance. He said there was one serious injury -- a woman with head trauma who was found under the rubble. She was in stable but critical condition, he said. 
"Mostly they have minor injuries -- cuts, scrapes, lacerations, broken bones, some inhalation injuries from the smoke and debris in the area," said Chason, director of emergency management for Mount Sinai Health System. 
A hospital official said Wednesday evening that 19 of the 22 patients had been discharged. 
Eighteen patients were treated at Metropolitan Hospital Center, including 16 adults and two pediatric cases, said Noel Alicea, associate director of public affairs. "Six came by ambulance and 12 walked in on their own, with complaints including minor cuts, bruises, and difficulty breathing. None of the patients required hospitalization. All have been released." 
Harlem Hospital Center reported 13 patients, three of them children, one of whom is in critical condition and two in stable condition, said spokesman Kencle Satchell. The 10 adults, ranging in age from 20 to 79 years old, were in stable condition, Satchell said. Six of the patients were walk-ins. 
A spokeswoman for NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center Wednesday night said nine victims were being evaluated at the hospital. No other information was available. 
Metro-North Railroad crews used construction equipment, including a crane capable of lifting 1,200 pounds, and a large trash bin to remove debris from the tracks after the explosion. 
The debris was cleared from the tracks and all service to and from Grand Central Terminal was restored during the early evening rush after an earlier suspension. 
Just before 5 p.m., the agency announced that it had cleared and restored the remaining two tracks near the blast at Park Avenue and 116th Street, allowing service to resume on the Hudson Line. 
Earlier Wednesday, Metro-North restored service on its Harlem and New Haven lines after clearing two other tracks. 
Metro-North officials said they had finished clearing debris from the explosion off the tracks and also verified the integrity of the tracks and third rail along the elevated structure. 
"Trains will run at reduced speeds through the collapse zone to protect nearby employees and reduce vibrations as rescue and recovery work continues," the agency said in a statement. "This will result in some delays and crowding through the rush hour." 
With Joan Gralla, Candice Ruud, Maria Alvarez, Patricia Kitchen, Matthew Chayes, Alfonso A. Castillo, Darran Simon, Caroline Linton, Anthony M. DeStefano and the Associated Press.

NYEXPL13

Harlem explosion leaves 6 dead, 9 missing, officials say

23 - Harlem explosion /mg cropped

Pianos were launched into the air when a "huge boom" rocked the East Harlem piano store where Colin Patterson works.
"The pianos flew off the ground and flew around me," said Patterson, a piano technician at Absolute Piano on the ground floor at 1646 Park Ave., one of two buildings leveled Wednesday morning by a massive explosion caused by a suspected gas leak.
Patterson, finding himself "in a miraculous cocoon" of debris after the blast, managed to dig himself out and crawl through a window, escaping with only a scratch on his left wrist.
"It was a huge boom, like a sonic jet engine. The building fell on top of me," said Patterson, who has lived on the building's ground floor for 10 years.
The 9:30 a.m. explosion, powerful enough for witnesses to mistake for an earthquake, could be heard across a large swath of upper Manhattan.
As the buildings crumbled, shards of glass and tons of bricks rained down on the busy street below. Parked cars were crushed, and railroad tracks nearby were covered with debris, shutting down rail service.
Frantic residents and workers rushed outside. Many saw the buildings fall, sparking a raging fire. A cloud of thick, white smoke and dust filled the air as scores of firefighters battled the blaze.
David Casareo, 35, a Bronx carpenter who was working a job across the street, said he and a colleague ran to the scene and began searching for victims.
"I was digging through the bricks and I saw a blanket," Casareo recalled. "I moved the blanket, and there was this kid. . . . He was bleeding a lot."
The victim, a boy between 7 and 10 years old, told the rescuers, "I have a lot of pain," Casareo said.
"We grabbed him and brought him to the cops. He kept asking for help. I told him, 'Don't worry. You'll be OK.' "
Casareo and co-worker Alex Camillo, 35, of Manhattan, also rescued two people from a minivan that had been partly crushed by falling debris.
"We pulled the people out of the window," Camillo said.
Gregory Garcia, 50, who has lived in the neighborhood his whole life, said the explosion "sounded like a bomb. My building shook. I felt a vibration through my body."
Carlos Perez, 60, was on the block working at a shop that sells medicinal herbs.
"When I heard the explosion, it broke all the windows and shattered glass onto my chest. I thought it was a train that might have derailed," he said. "I ran out to the corner and there was smoke everywhere."
He said cars stopped at a red light at 116th and Park were overturned -- flipped by the force of the blast.
Ruben Borrero, 32, who has lived at 1646 Park Ave. with his family for many years, heard about the explosion from a friend and rushed home to find his home in rubble.
"All I saw was an empty lot," he said at an American Red Cross shelter at PS 57 on Third Avenue and East 115 Street. "My life was in that building; my father's ashes and my family dog."
Borrero had left in the morning to drop his son off at the baby-sitter. He said his family, who lived in the second floor, will now stay with other relatives.
"All we have is what we have on our backs," he said.
 With Joan Gralla
and Nicole Fuller

NYSIDE13

East Harlem building explosion survivor: Pianos 'flew around me'

10 - Harlem explosion jcm

One of the East Harlem buildings reduced to rubble Wednesday in a fatal explosion has a history of code violations that authorities classified as maintenance issues. Officials said they were unlikely to have contributed to the gas leak, fire or blast. 
The second building toppled in the explosion had gas work done several months ago, a representative of its owner said. 
The building where the fire originated, 1646 Park Ave., was cited in August 2008 for "several vertical cracks" in the rear exterior wall that were "hazardous for the safety of the structure," city Department of Buildings records show. It was still not in compliance. 
Acting Buildings Commissioner Thomas Fariello, at a news conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio, described the violation as a "failure to maintain the building . . . nothing gas-related or plumbing-related." 
The building also has 60 open violations with the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, that agency's records show. 
A Housing Preservation and Development spokesman said the building's most recent violations are maintenance issues, and that a broken electrical outlet cover, obstructing bars and carbon monoxide detector violations aren't classified as immediately hazardous. 
The building is owned by Kaoru Demler Muramatsu, property records show. Her daughter said she also owns the piano store on the building's first floor. Muramatsu does not live in the building, but was talking with police to locate the tenants Wednesday night, her daughter said. 
A second building involved in the explosion, 1644 Park Ave., had received a Buildings Department permit in June for installation of 120 feet of piping to supply gas from a meter to a fifth-floor stove, records show. New York Heating Corp. in Brooklyn was to do the work, but a company employee could not confirm the work was done. 
Carmen Vargas-Rosa, financial officer of the Spanish Christian Church, which owns the building, said there was gas work done about five months ago.

NYBUIL13

Records: 1 building in explosion had unrelated violations, 2nd had gas work done

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A deadly building explosion Wednesday in East Harlem spewed debris on nearby Metro-North Railroad tracks, forcing the shutdown of its service into and out of Grand Central Terminal, one of the nation's busiest train stations.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said they expected a normal commute Thursday morning on Metro-North. But they cautioned there was a possibility of continuing slow-speed orders through the blast area at Park Avenue and 116th Street. 
All service was halted much of Wednesday into and out of Grand Central after the morning explosion destroyed two buildings, littering four tracks on the Harlem line across the street with debris. Full service was resumed just before 5 p.m. after Metro-North crews cleared the debris from the tracks, which were inspected for third-rail integrity and approved for operations by Metro-North and the Fire Department, railroad officials said. 
Metro-North crews used construction equipment, including a crane capable of lifting 1,200 pounds, and a large trash bin to remove debris.
After full service resumed, Metro-North officials advised customers to continue to expect some crowding and delays, and for trains to reduce speeds through the Harlem neighborhood "to protect nearby railroad workers and to limit vibrations at the explosion site." 
Before Metro-North crews cleared rubble scattered on two of the four tracks of the Harlem line at Park and 116th Street, scores of train riders scrambled to complete their trips using the subway system, which was cross-honoring railroad fares Wednesday. 
Customers walked from some subway stops in the Bronx to nearby Metro-North stations, including Woodlawn and Yankees-East 153rd Street, to complete their trips.
Railroad spokesman Aaron Donovan said that earlier in the day the agency had control only of two of the four tracks near the explosion because Fire Department and police investigators used the other two tracks closer to the blast, in part, to view the rubble from an elevated vantage point. 
In total, Metro-North carried 83.4 million passengers last year, virtually tying the Long Island Rail Road as the busiest U.S. commuter rail carrier. About 82 million passengers each year travel through Grand Central, Metro-North's lone Manhattan terminal.

LIMETR13

Metro-North service at Grand Central restored after blast

For many of the victims who somehow survived the East Harlem blast, the rest of their Wednesday meant nursing wounds and waiting for news on loved ones still missing. 
The two buildings went down after what National Transportation Safety Board officials said was a gas explosion -- reduced to smoldering piles of steel and brick. Nearby buildings also were damaged, and injured residents, like those in the two demolished structures, were left homeless. 
As firefighters doused the flames and a form of chaos played out on the busy streets of northern Manhattan, officials confirmed the deaths of at least six people in the blast. Dozens were injured, and as of late Wednesday night, nine people were still missing. 
Griselde Camacho, 45, Carmen Tanco, 67 and&nbsp;Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, 21&nbsp;were confirmed as having died in the incident, with the remaining victims yet to be identified, officials said. Andreas Panagopoulos was among the nine who remained missing late Wednesday. 
Two among the dead were popular members of Bethel Gospel Assembly, just four blocks from the blast. 
Carmen Tanco, 67, a member of the church for 20 years, was an usher at Sunday services and a "bundle of energy," said Ruth-Ann Wynter, the Harlem church's director of ministry relations. 
When Griselde Camacho wasn't looking after students as a sergeant in the public safety office at Hunter College in Manhattan, where she was named by her union as the Peace Officer of the Year in 2010, she was volunteering in the church's video department. 
Friends and college officials confirmed her death Wednesday night. 
"Her presence will definitely be missed," Wynter said of Camacho, the mother of a teenage son. 
In a statement posted Wednesday night on the Hunter College website, president Jennifer J. Raab paid tribute to Camacho. 
"Our hearts go out to Griselde's family at this terrible time," Raab said in the statement, displayed next to a photo of a beaming Camacho. "We know this is a difficult time for all those who knew and worked with Sergeant Camacho, whether at the Silberman School or as part of the public safety office." 
At nearby hospitals, those lucky enough to get out alive tried to make sense of the explosion and everything they lost. 
Luis Rivera, 52, was sleeping in his bed in a neighboring apartment building when the force of the explosion blew out his windows and tossed him out of bed and into the air before he hit the ground. His television and other furniture followed him down. He spent Wednesday at The Mount Sinai Hospital in Harlem with other wounded survivors. 
"I was elevated in the air," he said. "And everything came down on top of me . . . I thought it was an earthquake." 
Though he's been released, he can't go home -- he and his wife were headed to the American Red Cross Wednesday night to find shelter. "Everything in my house is destroyed," Rivera said. 
The explosion claimed victims beyond those inside the Park Avenue buildings. Two FBI agents, who were driving through the area at the time of the explosion, were injured. An FBI official said the agents, who were not identified, were there on an "unrelated" matter and were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 
After the blast, tearful reunions of those feared dead but since found took place at hospitals and emergency centers, while others waited anxiously to hear about missing family members possibly trapped in rubble. 
There was no sign Wednesday of Andreas Panagopoulos at three hospitals, leaving his family to grapple with the possibility he was still trapped Wednesday night, or worse. 
"We don't know anything," said Tulio Gomez, Panagopoulos' brother-in-law, as he waited yesterday afternoon at a makeshift command center a block from the scene. 
"We don't know if there are still people inside. I don't think we're going to get any news." 
Panagopoulos, 42, last spoke to his wife, Lisbeth Perez, when she called him at 8:30 a.m., about 45 minutes before the explosion. The family said Panagopoulos rarely leaves the apartment during the day. 
After the blast, his family rushed to the scene and eventually began their daylong search at local hospitals, where time after time they discovered, "It's not him." 
With the Associated Press.

NYVICT13

Victims try to sort out blast, three of the dead identified

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Complete coverage: East Harlem building explosion

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