New York – A plumber has admitted to illegally hooking up to a gas line at an East Village building that exploded March 26.
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The unidentified plumber said he was told to tap into the line by the landlord’s son, reports the New York Post (http://bit.ly/1PctvIB). The plumber stated he tapped into the line for apartments located at 121 Second Ave. under the orders of Michael Hrynenko Jr., 29. Hryenko is the son of the building’s landlord, Maria Hrynenko, who inherited that building along with several others from her late husband, Michael Sr., who used to manage the East Village’s 24-hour Kiev diner.
Investigators suspect that an illegal tap into the line was taken off before Con Ed inspected the building on March 26, and then put back on before the explosion.
Hrynenko Jr. was in the building with general contractor Dilber Kukic of The Bronx, who is currently awaiting trial on bribery charges connected to an undercover officer posing as a housing inspector looking for bribes. Both men made it out of the building.
The explosion killed 23-year-old Nicholas Figueroa of East Harlem and 27-year-old Moises Locon of Queens.
Officials say anyone involved with the cause of the explosion could face second-degree manslaughter charges.
Information taken from The New York Pos
The plumber should face criminal charges, and lose his plumber’s license. If convicted, he should be sentenced to prison, and not be privy to a suspended sentence. The plumber cannot use the excuse that “I was just following orders”, as we’ve heard that excuse before. Legally, that excuse won’t fly. Secondly, the building manager who directed the plumber to tap into that gas line illegally, should also face criminal charges. Those old tenements, well over a century old, are powder kegs, waiting to ignite. Time and time again, we’ve seen how building managers, and owners, in their quest to cut costs, wind up injuring and killing innocent people. For example, in the late 1990’s, at a wedding in EY, the dance floor collapsed, killing several, and injuring scores of people. An investigation revealed that the builder of that building, cut costs, and did not follow the Israeli safety codes. He and several others were sentenced to long prison terms!
The plumber and landlord should both pack their bags for a long vacation!
thats what happends when Ukrainians are in charge.
I guess stealing gas is in Ukrainian blood. They steal Russian gas at home and ConEd’s in NY