Some of them had only moments to get out. The residents of the area surrounding the East Village explosion that destroyed three buildings this week ran for their lives. Now they're working to pick up the pieces.
Chelsea Blampied, who lived in one of the leveled buildings, said she'd stopped home to get a work file from her third-floor apartment when she heard and felt the blast.
"I thought a plane crashed into my building. Glass was blown everywhere, and it was just so surreal," she said.
"I just heard a really loud boom," recounted neighbor Justine Miller. "I could feel it in my chest."
Neighbor Troy Hinson was walking to the sushi restaurant when it "literally blew up in front of my face," and said "it really felt like my internal organs were reverberating. It just feels like everything was shaking, including my teeth."
"You just don't know what hit you, it just feels like a sonic boom, there's no real other way to describe it," he said.
Blampied left behind all her belongings and ran through smoke and debris down the stairs to safety as her building began to crumble. She's now staying with friends and is grateful she made it out alive.
"It's so overwhelming. Everyone lost everything," she said.
Blampied was among more than 125 people displaced at least temporarily by the blast. Aside from the three buildings leveled by the explosion, eight more were ordered vacated. As of Saturday, five of those had been partially reopened, and NYPD officers were allowing some other residents to return briefly to their apartments to grab pets and personal items.
At the time of the explosion, Gregory Dohdanowycz was in his top-floor apartment in the building next to where the blast happened.
"I look out the window, and I see two buildings south of me, there's smoke rising from the windows and their roof windows," he said.
He only had time to grab his dog before running outside, and was overwhelmed by the horrific sights and sounds when he got outside.
Neighbor Miller said: "There was blood on the ground. There were people laying up against buildings and other people trying to help them."
Actress Drea de Matteo is among the residents who lost her home and belongings in the explosion. She took to Instagram Thursday to share two dramatic photos of firefighters battling smoke and flames. "A hole where my NYC home of the last 22 years once stood," she wrote in one caption. "RIP 123 2nd Avenue." The photos appeared to be taken from a rooftop across the street.
Naya Jones, who spent the night at the YMCA after being told to leave her building near the blast site, went to the Tompkins Square Library Friday, where the Red Cross and other relief groups were offering financial assistance, food, vouchers and advocacy help.
The Red Cross said it has helped more than 120 people since the blast and gave housing assistance to dozens. The Standard Hotel is giving anyone displaced by the blaze three free nights of lodging. Sprint has also donated 25 cellphones.
The ASPCA is also providing pet supplies for owners in the affected area.
"It's a small community," said Bohdanowycz. "I think everyone is trying to help out when something bad happens."
Hinson, who's lived in the neighborhood four years, said, "I love the sense of community, and everybody comes together and helps each other out and is here for each other."
Several long-standing businesses were also affected by the destruction. Pommes Frites, a favorite spot for fries, was destroyed by the blast, and the nearby Orpheum Theater had to cancel performances of the off-Broadway production of "Stomp."
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Robert Seniuk, the chef at Stage restaurant across the street, is determined to get back to work.
"We open, we don't give up. This city is 24 hours," he said.
Nevertheless, the frightening explosion has taken a toll on the psyche of New Yorkers everywhere.
"Yesterday was a very scary day. Now all I can do is think about the people who lost their homes and people who've been living here for decades," said neighbor Adam Mashaal.
Hinson said he had stopped on the corner to say goodbye to his friend just before the sushi restaurant exploded.
"The fact that I was literally - if I didn't stop and talk to my friend, I would possibly be in that building," he said. "That's kind of what's messing me up. ... All these crazy thoughts are going through your head after this happens, like, why me? Why am I safe, why is something again happening to me? It's just crazy. I'm having just a hard time processing it."
Health officials say the air quality in the area has returned to normal levels and that short-term exposure to elevated particulate levels Thursday didn't pose a significant risk to the public. They say the smoke odor may linger, but isn't harmful. Still, those with respiratory or heart problems should remain extra vigilant.
The explosion came a week after the one-year anniversary of the East Harlem explosion that leveled two buildings and killed eight people. The blast also injured dozens of people and left many homeless for months.
Since the 2014 explosion, the FDNY has been given a much greater role in responding to reports of possible gas leaks and New Yorkers are now encouraged to call 911 about gas leaks and odors rather than 311.
