Family And Friends Bid Farewell To Blast Victim At Emotional Funeral

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Hundreds of relatives, friends and strangers have gathered to bid an emotional farewell to the 23-year-old man who perished in the gas explosion and building collapse in New York City last month.
reference.comNicholas Figueroa's mother, Ana, was among more than 200 mourners to attend the funeral for her son, who was on a second date at a sushi restaurant in the city's East Village when he was killed.
Carrying a red rose and wearing a button featuring her son's image, she wept as she watched his casket being loaded into a hearse outside the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Manhattan.
Mr Figueroa's father, Nixon, who supported his wife throughout the funeral, told mourners: 'I'm here but I'm broken. When you have any kind of inquiries about where by in addition to the way to work with asphalt paving by gw, you possibly can e mail us on the website. My son is broken. My wife is broken. It hurts... It's heartbreaking for everybody.'
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Farewell: Nicholas Figueroa's father, Nixon (center back), and brother, Neal (front right), were among the pallbearers carrying the 23-year-old's casket out of the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus after his funeral
Grief-stricken: Carrying a red rose and wearing a button featuring her son's image on her top,  Mr Figueroa's mother, Ana (pictured), wept as she watched his casket being loaded into a hearse outside the church
Tragic: Mr Figueroa (left), a former model and bowling lane employee, was settling the check for himself and his Bowlmor Lanes colleague at a Sushi Park restaurant in when the building exploded and collapsed (right)
Speaking at the Upper West Side church, the 52-year-old father added: 'We're here to show the love we always have for him. I appreciate everybody coming. I'm going to put my son to rest now.'
Mr Figueroa, a former model and bowling lane employee, was settling the check for himself and his Bowlmor Lanes colleague at the Sushi Park restaurant in Second Ave. wh reported. 

Another victim: Last week, Mr Figueroa's body was tragically pulled from the building's rubble alongside that of 26-year-old busboy, Moises Locon (pictured), who had worked at the sushi restaurant six days a week
Aftermath: Firefighters continue to hose down the site of the fire that gutted three buildings on March 27
The gas was apparently being siphoned from the restaurant to tenants in the building. 
Investigators suspect the illegal hookup was switched before Con Ed inspectors visited the building on March 26, and after they left, it was put back, the Post reported. 
It added that authorities have not yet decided whether to use the plumber's statement against him or if they will get him to testify in exchange for a deal.
Neither the landlord, Maria Hrynenko, nor her 29-year-old son Michael, who also goes by the name 'Mischou', responded to the paper's requests for comment.
On Monday, it was claimed that a plumber who worked on the building has accused the landlord's son, Michael Hrynenko Jr (pictured), of making him illegally tap a gas line ahead of the deadly blast
Property records show he lives in Sparkhill in Rockland County, New York after moving from 7th Street in the East Village last year, where he lived in an apartment owned by his family.
The investigation continues as authorities continue to pick through the rubble at the site.
But charges including second-degree manslaughter and reckless endangerment could be brought against anyone believed to have been behind the blast, the Post reported. 
In August, utility workers found that the gas line had been illegally tapped, Con Ed said.
The discovery led the company to shut down gas service to the building for about 10 days while the building owner made repairs. Gas service was restored after the utility deemed it safe.
Inspectors from Con Ed visited that building about an hour before the explosion and determined work to upgrade gas service didn't pass inspection, locking the line to ensure it wouldn't be used.
The work underway was to put in a bigger line to serve the entire building, according to Con Ed.
But 15 minutes after the workers left, the smell of gas was reported. No one called 911 or Con Ed.
Instead, Michael Hrynenko and a contractor, Dilber Kukic, opened the basement door to check on where the smell was coming from.
When they did so, a massive explosion shot through the building, forcing rubble onto the street and sparking a fire that spread to neighboring buildings.
Both Michael Hrynenko and the contractor escaped the scene, but officials later pulled the bodies of Mr Figueroa and Mr Locon, who worked at the restaurant six days a week, from the rubble.  
The contractor, Dilber Kukic - who is facing unrelated charges of bribing an undercover investigator posing as a housing inspector - declined throug






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