Residents in the area of the Harlem explosion have been saying they smelled gas as early as Tuesday, but Con Edison says the first call it received was almost 20 minutes before the explosion. A closer look at the building’s records show they are very old structures, but there were no apparent violations that could have led to an explosion…
Two Manhattan buildings were leveled Wednesday after an explosion caused by a gas leak.
Here are some facts about the buildings.
1644 Park Ave.:
- Five stories
- Six residential units
- First-floor church
- Permit issued for installation of 120 feet of gas piping in June 2013. Work completed June 21.
- No Department of Buildings violations on record, except a notice of what happened Wednesday
- 2 open violations from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, relating to needing a fireproof, self-closing door
1646 Park Ave.:
- Five stories
- Nine residential units
- Piano store
- One open violation from the Buildings Department for "failure to maintain" after inspectors found vertical cracks in the rear. A fine was paid but the condition was not certified as corrected
- 60 open violations from the Department of Housing and Preservation, including for a defective smoke detector, defective fire escape, vermin, missing carbon monoxide detector, defective sinks and faucets. HPD says 13 of those are from 2014, the others are from 2006 or older.
- RAW Video From the Smoking Rubble
- PHOTOS: Dramatic Images From the Collapse
- LISTEN: Emergency Dispatch Audio After the Collapse
--Pei-Sze Cheng and Ann Givens contributed reporting
