One week after the deadly building explosion and collapse in the East Village, area businesses are feeling the economic impact. NY1’s Rocco Vertuccio filed the following report.
The Mocha Cafe on Second Avenue finally reopened Thursday morning, one week after an explosion devastated the East Village.
"It's going to be hard, very hard to go back to normal,” said manager Rodolfo Palacios.
The cafe is across the street from where the blast happened. Being closed a week took a financial toll on the cafe's eight employees.
"All the workers were crying. They don't have a job. Everybody loses money like my boss and us, everybody loses,” Palacios said.
A closer look at the explosion site reveals what is now a vacant lot and a giant hole where three buildings stood a week ago, including a sushi restaurant where the explosion happened. That’s where two people died.
Moises Locon Yac, 27, and Nicholas Figueroa, 23, were pulled from the rubble Sunday.
"It's a bit heartbreaking the whole thing,” said East Village resident David Brown.
People who live and work in the neighborhood stopped to gawk at the site and reflect on the devastation.
"Those businesses over that are closed now, in addition to the ones that were destroyed in the collapse, were places I've been going to for the past 25, 30 years,” said Brown.
Sources say the unauthorized siphoning of gas to the apartments above the restaurant may have caused the explosion. Some now wonder about the safety of their own building.
"The city's infrastructure is old and, you know, it's something to be concerned about,” said East Village resident Daniel Stern.
No word on when all the businesses impacted will reopen but longtime residents have no doubt this neighborhood will recover.
"The East Village is a resilient place,” said Brown.
Dozens of people left homeless from the explosion will need help getting back on their feet. To help out, go to NYC.gov/EVRelief.