Five Charged in Fatal East Village Explosion

By SEAN EGAN
With INEZ SHARABY & PRISCILLA PEREZ

Five persons were arraigned with their heads bowed in shame on Thursday in connection to the East Village building explosion that killed two, injured 12, and destroyed three buildings almost a year ago.

They are accused of illegally tampering with the building’s gas lines, according to prosecutors.

Maria Hrynenko, 56, and her son Michael, 30, owned the building on 121 Second Ave. that exploded, and were charged with contractor Dilber Kukic, 40, and unlicensed plumber Jerry Ioannidis, 59, with second-degree manslaughter; criminal negligence; reckless endangerment; and assault in the second and third degree, and face up to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said. Each bail was set at $1 million.

Andrew Trombettas, 57, was also arrested for lending Kukic his master plumbing license to get the work approved under false pretense. His bail was set at $100,000.

All of the suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges at the arraignment in front of Justice Kirke Bartley.

“The individuals involved in the East Village gas explosion showed a blatant and callous disregard for human life,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “We are heartened that today these defendants will be brought to justice and forced to answer for their criminal actions.”

“This all could have been avoided, lives would have been saved, if he played by the rules,” the prosecutor said about Michael Hrynenko, who was dressed in a blue t-shirt and pajama pants at the arraignment.

At an earlier news conference, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. explained the tactics used by the owner and contractors that led to the explosion on March 26, 2015.

Kukic was hired in 2013 by Hrynenko to renovate the apartments in the building. When the work was done, however, Consolidated Edison did not approve of the gas lines for the building because of a faulty steel pipe, according to Vance.

The landlord and contractors used two flexible hoses to use the gas from the neighboring building, 119 Second Ave., also owned by the Hrynenkos, to supply the apartments at 121 Second Ave, according to prosecutors. This homemade gas rig was hidden behind locked doors in the back of the building This was after their gas was shut off for a few days because they were caught using the ground floor restaurant’s gas to supply the apartments.

Kukic, who is also on probation for bribery charges, allegedly bribed the tenants of the building to tell Con Ed that they do not have gas in their apartments, according to prosecutors.

The utility company had shut off the gas to the building in August 2014, when they received complaints of a smell of gas which led to them discovering the homemade gas rig. Con Ed restored the supply to the building a few days later after the landlord removed the illegal gas line, according to prosecutors.

On the day of the explosion, Con Ed again denied approval for gas to go to the apartments in the building because a pipe was improperly installed. After their denial of gas, the landlords and contractors reactivated their illegal system without knowing the main valve was left open by Con Ed, causing a gas leak and the subsequent explosion, according to investigators.

According to prosecutors, two contractors smelled the gas that day and fled the area without informing the tenant moments before the fatal explosion.

Days after the blast, nine garbage bags full of shredded documents related to the building were found, according to prosecutors, and the pieces of these documents will be put back together to be used as evidence.

“It was a tragedy and an accident,” the defense lawyer representing both Hrynenkos said.

Nicholas Figueroa, 23, was eating in the sushi restaurant on the ground floor of the building when it exploded. He and an employee at the restaurant, Moises Lucon, 27, were killed in the blast. Many more were injured.