Michael Hrynenko Jr., 31, passed away on Friday, according to his obituary. His cause of death is not yet clear
A New York building manager who was charged with manslaughter over the East Village gas explosion that left two dead and razed an entire block has mysteriously died.
Michael Hrynenko Jr., 31, passed away on Friday, according to his obituary. His cause of death is not yet clear.
He was awaiting trial for his role in the deadly 2nd Avenue gas explosion in 2015 at the time of his death.
Hrynenko Jr., the building manager was named as a key figure in the tragedy that left Nicholas Figueroa, 23, and Moises Lucon, 26, dead, and injured a dozen others.
He was charged with with manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide and assault in the second degree, alongside his mother Maria Hrynenko – who was the landlord of 19 and 121 Second Ave., two of the three buildings destroyed by blast – contractor Dilber Kukic and plumber Jerry Ioannidis .
Plumber Andrew Trombettas was also charged in connection with the explosion, for allegedly lending his name and license number to paperwork.
All five were accused of installing an illegal gas system at Hrynenko’s two buildings, which they then hid from inspectors. They all pleaded not guilty.
Flames rise from a building fire in the East Village in 2015. Landlord Maria Hrynenko, her son, Michael Jr., Bronx contractor Dilber Kukic and plumberd Jerry Ioannidis and Andrew Trombettas were charged
CCTV: This surveillance footage shows the explosion at the very moment it happened
Landlord Maria Hrynenko and Michael Jr., pictured in a Manhattan court in 2016 after being charged with negligent homicide in connection to the East Village fire
The Hrynenkos were expected to appear on September 12 in New York Supreme Court.
If convicted, Hrynenko Jr. could have been facing 15 years in jail.
Hrynenko Jr., of Sparkill, in upstate New York, had another run in with the law earlier this year, when he was arrested for driving drunk after he crashed his car in a parking lot off Route 303, according to Orangetown police.
Sparkill police have not yet confirmed the cause of Hrynenko Jr.’s death.
Pizzi Funeral Home, in Northvale, New Jersey, are holding visiting hours for his body Wednesday 4-8pm. His funeral service will be private.
Tragic: Restaurant worker Moises Lucon (left), 26, and Nicholas Figueroa (right), 23, were the two who died in the blast. The fire injured two dozen others
Hrynenko Jr.’s mother and the other defendants still face charges over the deadly blast.
According to prosecutors, Ms. Hrynenko and the accused contractors, devised a way to continue to illegally tap into the gas line of the neighboring building, 119 Second Avenue, owned by Ms. Hrynenko, to provide gas to the apartments., according to the New York Times. They allegedly did so by using ‘flexible hosing.’
‘Flex hosing used in this way is illegal and extremely unsafe because of its potential to disconnect, break, or leak,’ Assistant District Attorney Rachana Pathak wrote in court documents.
‘The defendants constructed another illegal unsafe gas delivery system by installing a series of pipes and valves connecting the apartments in 121 Second Avenue to an uncapped, commercial-grade gas meter in the adjacent, vacant property,’ Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr said at a press conference last year.
‘I’m a good person,’ Hrynenko said as she was brought in by the authorities in February 2016, according to the New York Post.
Charged with manslaughter: Contractor Dilber Kukic, 40, is pictured in a Manhattan criminal court following his arrest
False filing: Plumber Andrew Trombettas was charged with offering a false instrument for filing. He is pictured in court last year
Possible jail time: Dilber Kukic and Maria Hrynenko, both pictured in 2016, face up to 15 years behind bars if convicted
Diner Nicholas Figueroa, 23, and worker at Sushi Park Restaurant, Moises Lucon, 26, were the two who died in the blast. The fire injured two dozen others.
Nicholas’ brother Tyler Figueroa told The New York Daily News: ‘We’re finally getting justice for my brother.’
Police have looked into a rigged gas line into Sushi Park Restaurant on the ground floor of 121 Second Avenue as a possible cause of the deadly combustion, according to the Daily News.
It emerged after the fire that a new gas line had been installed at Sushi Park without a permit, and that it had been improperly supplying gas to apartments at 121 Second Avenue, even though it was intended to service only the restaurant on the ground floor, according to New York Post.
Con Edison President Craig Ivey said the utility never signed off on the installation, which took place last September, because it had failed to meet ‘psychical requirements.’
Terrible fire: In this handout provided by the New York City Police Department, smoke rises from the scene of a building explosion
Faulty:According to prosecutors, the defendants devised a way to continue to illegally tap into the gas line of the neighboring building, 119 Second Avenue by using flexible hosing
Also after the blaze, it was revealed that the owner of Sushi Park smelled gas about 15 minutes before the blast, but failed to call 911 or Con Edison. Instead, he contacted the owner of the building, who in turned reached out to his general contractor
The contractor and building owner’s son went to the basement, where the blast occurred when they opened the door, officials said. Both suffered burns and were hospitalized.
The explosion at 121 Second Avenue in the East Village set alight the property and its neighboring structures, eventually bringing down three buildings and seriously damaging a fourth.
At 2pm on Thursday March 26, 2015, – an hour before the explosion – contractors met with Con Edison to check on some ongoing work to upgrade gas service in the building. The utility said the work didn’t pass inspection, so gas wasn’t introduced to the line, and inspectors left at around 2.45pm.
The scene: Three contractors and two building owners were taken into custody on charges including manslaughter and negligent homicide for the blast that razed three buildings (pictured) on March 26, 2015
Crews remove debris at the site of a multi-building collapse on 2nd Avenue in New York on March 30, 2015. Police have looked into a rigged gas line into Sushi Park Restaurant as a possible cause of the deadly combustion
New York City Fire Department (FDNY) officials checked debris the morning after the fire. Police have looked into a rigged gas line into a sushi restaurant on the ground floor of 121 Second Avenue as a possible cause
Fifteen minutes later – around 3pm – the owner of Sushi Park smelled gas and called the building’s landlord, but did not call 911 or ConEd.
Another 15 minutes later, a contractor and the owner’s son went to check out where the smell was coming from but when they opened the door to the basement – at 3.17pm – they were blown back by the massive blast. Within minutes, the buildings were overcome with flames.
The building’s contractor Dilber Kukic, 39, earlier told DNAinfo that he and the owner’s son had opened the basement door after smelling gas when the room suddenly blew up, throwing debris on top of them.
‘As soon as we opened the basement door, there was an explosion, a fire,’ Kukic said while being treated at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center for burns and smoke inhalation. ‘It was full of smoke. The debris was on top of me.’
He managed to escape and carried out the owner’s son with him but both were treated with cuts and burns to their faces.
The site of the blast then caught alight, while its neighboring buildings, 119, 123 and 125 Second Avenue, were also engulfed before all three buildings completely collapsed to the ground, leaving a massive hole on the corner of the block at 7th Street.