Massive explosion rips up Bath
Beach block, levels three homes
BY BEN BRACHFELD
& LLOYD MITCHELL
A massive explosion
echoed through a residential
block in Bath Beach Friday
morning, sparking an inferno
that tore through three
houses, and eventually caused
their collapse.
The two-alarm blast rang
out at about 7:15 am at a triplex
building at 67-71 Bay
35th St., near the intersection
with Benson Avenue. Over 200
smoke-eaters arrived on scene
to battle the ensuing blaze,
which leveled a sizable portion
of the triplex and rendered the
building completely uninhabitable,
fi re offi cials said.
Two of the units, 65 and 69
Bay 35th, have been demolished,
the Buildings Department
confi rmed. The other
attached unit, 71 Bay 35th,
did not collapse but residents
have vacated the property by
order of the city, and shoring
has been installed to prevent
it from collapsing. Neighboring
61 Bay 35th suffered minor
damage.
The unit that exploded was
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already vacant, offi cials said,
but six people have been displaced
from the two neighboring
units in the triplex. No injuries
have been reported from
the blast. Asked which building
was the vacant unit that
exploded, DOB referred Brooklyn
Paper to the Department
of Housing Preservation and
Development, which did not respond
to a request for comment.
The building, built in 1935,
does not have a long history
formal complaints on fi le with
the city; the only one on record
is for an illegal basement
apartment at 65 Bay 35th in
2010.
Neighbors reported smelling
gas in the area prior to
and after the blast; DOB confi
rmed that a gas explosion
had occurred.
The Red Cross is assisting
residents affected by the explosion,
and says it has provided
the two families living
in the affected homes with
emergency housing, and one
additional family with fi nancial
assistance.
The explosion comes
amidst a rash of serious fi res
across the city. One person
died and eight were injured
after a gas explosion in the
Bronx last month.
“If you smell gas, it’s a
unique smell, immediately
call 911 so we can the teams
out there to investigate,”
Mayor Eric Adams said in
Bath Beach on Friday.
The Bronx explosion came
just days after one of the city’s
deadliest fi res in decades, at
the Bronx’s Twin Parks North
West, where a malfunctioning
space heater combined with
non-self-closing doors caused
a massive inferno that left 17
people dead, numerous others
injured, and has policymakers
questioning existing fi re
safety policy.
Closer to home, an under
construction building
on Gates Avenue in Bedford-
Stuyvesant collapsed due to a
massive fi re on Monday morning.
Firefi ghters later recovered
a body from the rubble.
The remains of a Bath Beach building following an explosion and fi re on
Feb. 4, 2022. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
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