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Blast levels N.Y. building

Authorities: Gas explosion may have been a deliberate act by owner

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 11, 2006

NEW YORK - A four-story building on Manhattan's Upper East Side collapsed into a pile of rubble Monday after a thunderous explosion hurled fireballs skyward and left an upscale block littered with bricks, broken glass and splintered wood.

Authorities said the blast was caused by gas, and they were investigating whether it was the result of a suicide attempt by the building's owner, a doctor who was going through a bitter divorce. The doctor, Nicholas Bartha, 66, and a passer-by were severely hurt; at least 13 other people had minor injuries.

Bartha recently sent a rambling e-mail to his wife in which he contemplated suicide, the Associated Press reported, citing an anonymous official.

"When you read this ... your life will change forever," the e-mail read in part. "You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger. You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead."

The injured included five civilians and 10 firefighters. Bartha was pulled from the rubble after talking with authorities from his phone while buried in the wreckage, fire Chief Nicholas Scoppetta said.

Bartha recently lost a $4-million judgment in the divorce case, and court records chronicle a nasty dispute that spanned five years. The building was worth nearly $5-million based on a 2004 assessment, and was to be sold at auction to pay the judgment.

Heavy black smoke rose high above the 19th century building, just a few blocks from Central Park. Debris was strewn everywhere. Four of the injured were pedestrians, and some were found covered in blood on the street.

Power company Con Edison said its crews had been responding to complaints from a gas customer at an adjacent building at the time of the blast.

Yaakov Kermaier, 36, a resident in a building next door, said he was outside when he heard "a deafening boom. I saw the whole building explode in front of me."

"Everybody started running, nobody knew what was coming next," he said. His nanny and newborn escaped from their next-door apartment unharmed.

[Last modified July 11, 2006, 01:18:23]