Liu, Others, Will Assist Blast Victims In Returning To Site

City personnel and elected officials will help residents of 147-25 Sanford Ave., Flushing, re-enter their apartments to retrieve their important family belongings, a spokesperson for City Councilmember John Liu announced. The residents were left homeless for nearly a week after a gas explosion damaged many apartments in the 90-unit building on Friday, July 18.

The owner of the building has already thrown out significant amounts of personal belongings and family valuables, claiming that he was ordered by the city to do so because of contamination, the spokesperson said. However, city agencies claim they never determined that any of the apartments were contaminated and never ordered the disposal of any residents' belongings. The city Buildings Department issued a vacate order after 37 of the 90 apartments were found uninhabitable after the blast, but after Wednesday, July 30, the vacate order was lifted, the spokesperson added.

"The callous disregard with which these residents have been treated is utterly reprehensible," Liu declared. "It's so hard to imagine not being allowed into your own home, even to get your necessities like medication, documents and other valuables; seeing your belongings being thrown out in dumpsters, and having no idea what's going on or what to expect next because no one is communicating with you. At best, these actions are nauseating incompetence, and at worst, despicable cover-up of wrongful actions."

State Senator Toby Stavisky stated: "The Office of Emergency Management, the Department of Environmental Protection [and] the Fire Department have to decide who is in charge. The building owner, Alwall Construction, must admit who told them to discard personal belongings, family possessions and irreplaceable documents. The finger pointing must stop. Harry Truman had a famous sign on his desk in the White House 'The buck stops here.' For Flushing, the buck hasn't stopped anywhere."

"For the first time since this tragedy occurred, these families are getting the good news that they are allowed to return home to at least retrieve their things," Assemblymember Ellen Young said. "Nothing is more painful than the combination of both losing your home and beloved personal valuables. The disposal of personal belongings and the destruction of evidence is absolutely atrocious. We demand a full investigation. We need to know who is lying."