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Palisades Mother, Sparkill Son Indicted In Deadly Blast

ROCKLAND COUNTY, N.Y. -- Two Rockland County residents are among six people indicted in a deadly gas explosion that took the lives of two people in New York City last year, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

People panic seconds after the March 26 explosion leveled three buildings in the East Village.

Photo Credit: Troy Hinson/YouTube
Clean-up crews look over the aftermath of a massive gas explosion that took the lives of two people and injured more than a dozen others in the East Village last March.

Clean-up crews look over the aftermath of a massive gas explosion that took the lives of two people and injured more than a dozen others in the East Village last March.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Maria Hrynenko, 56, of Palisades, and her 30-year-old son, Michael, a Sparkill resident, have been charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and assault, among other things, Vance announced Thursday, Feb. 11.

The indictments allege that the Hrynenkos, and four others, set up an illegal gas-delivery system in their East Village building which subsequently caused an explosion and seven-alarm blaze that leveled three buildings.

Also named in the indictment were: Athanasios Ioannidis, 59, of Queens, an unlicensed plumber; Dibur Kukic, 40, of the Bronx, the general contractor; and Andrew Tromgettas, 57, a master plumber, Vance said.

The inferno, which also maimed and injured at least a dozen other people could have been avoided, Vance said.

Killed were Moises Locon, an employee of Sushi Park, a Japanese restaurant located at 121 Second Ave., and Nicholas Figueroa, who was eating there when the five-story building blew up.

“Development, construction, and renovation is happening across the city at breakneck speed,” the district attorney said. “In this market, the temptation for property owners, contractors, and managers to take dangerous -- and, in some instances, deadly -- shortcuts has never been greater.”

According to court papers, Maria Hrynenko hired Kukic as a general contractor to renovate 121 Second Ave.

According to the papers, Kukic then hired Ioannidis, who was not licensed, to do plumbing work at the building. Ioannidis paid Trombettas, a former partner, to use his plumbing license to submit paperwork to the city and Con Edison.

Trombettas never actually went to the building, Vance said.

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