Sketchy Gas Hookup Possibly "Hidden" From Con Ed Minutes Before East Village Explosion

Authorities are working on the theory that last week's explosion in the East Village that killed two people and injured dozens more was caused by an illegal attempt to siphon gas from commercial tenants at 121 Second Avenue into the residential units upstairs. According to a new report in the Times, 30 minutes before the blast, Con Ed inspectors had visited the site and ensured that the pipe, called a head end, was locked. "As soon as the utility inspectors left," the Times reports, "an attempt to resume the diversion of gas went awry, setting off the explosion."

The owner of Sushi Park, Hyeonil Kim, noted that an earlier siphoning scheme had been disrupted by Con Ed over the summer due to leaky hoses, leaving his restaurant without gas. Yet the residential tenants upstairs had their gas back almost immediately.

Investigators now believe that, possibly for more than a year, gas had been redirected from pipes coming into two of the buildings that were destroyed. They are looking into the possibility that the siphoning apparatus had been dismantled or somehow hidden from Con Edison’s inspectors on Thursday afternoon, then restored after they left.

Kim drew a diagram for the Times showing how the new siphoning system may have worked, drawing its gas from a vacant commercial space next door at 119 Second Avenue, the former space of East Noodle & Izakaya.

Like the residential tenant who spoke with the Times earlier this week, Kim said he was told by the landlord, Maria Hrynenko, to contact her with gas issues, not Con Ed. So when the manager of Sushi Park smelled rotten eggs last week, he called the landlord.

Ms. Hrynenko assured the manager that the matter would be resolved, Mr. Kim said. But when the gas odor persisted, the manager called Ms. Hrynenko again and she told him that she would send her son Michael to check it out, Mr. Kim said.

Still, the manager was worried enough about the potential buildup of gas that he walked to the front of the restaurant and opened the door. Just as he did, Mr. Kim said, the blast occurred, flinging the manager out into the street. The manager was injured but was treated at a hospital and released, said Mr. Kim, who was not at the restaurant at the time.

Michael Hrynenko, the landlord's son, was injured in the explosion. With him was contractor Dilber Kukic, who lacked the proper permits to perform gas line work.

“It is not in dispute that Mr. Kukic was present at an inspection shortly before the explosion. I urge people not to misinterpret facts and make assumptions about what led to this tragedy," Kukic's attorney told the paper.

Across the street from the explosion site, The Post reports that a similar "shady" gas siphoning operation spurred a stop-work order at 128 Second Avenue, after tenants began smelling gas.

“I think the plumbers could be the most culpable here because if the gas line is being tapped, it’s incumbent upon them to check the pilots in the stoves of each apartment,’’ a law-enforcement source told the tabloid.

Newsday reports that the investigation could take up to a year "to learn what caused the explosion and whether criminal charges are warranted."

Correction: An earlier version of this story noted that Con Ed inspectors visited 121 Second Avenue "and locked its gas main." A Con Ed spokesman clarifies that the pipe, called a head end, was already locked when workers arrived for the inspection of the existing gas connection. "We said no, this is a mess," the spokesman said. "They looked at the work and said, we're going to fail you."