EV explosion victims go after cash from landlord’s real estate deals

The site of the East Village explosion at 121 Second Avenue
The site of the East Village explosion at 121 Second Avenue

Victims of the deadly 2015 building explosion in the East Village want compensation, and they are going after landlord Maria Hrynenko to get it.

Hrynenko, the former owner of the property where a gas explosion destroyed three buildings, faces dozens of lawsuits and manslaughter charges for her role in the explosion  — she allegedly used an illegal cost-cutting gas delivery system. To cover her legal costs, Hrynenko was forced to sell the now rubble filled lots.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

On May 2, Yaniv Shaky Cohen’s Nexus Building Development Group Inc. — Called Avenue Second Owner LLC in the sale documents — purchased 119 and 121 Second Avenue for $9.15 million, according to public records.

But victims worry that they will never see their slice of that cash. To ensure they get their due, the victims have filed a legal motion asking that a judge forbid Hrynenko from “removing, destroying, selling, assigning, gifting, encumbering and otherwise disposing” of cash from the sale, according to the New York Post. [NYP] Christopher Cameron