The Latest at East 7th & 2nd Avenue | Missing Animals Need “Aggressive, Detailed Search”

Updated, April 7th, 8:18 a.m. — After seeing the full scope of the demolished buildings in person at the site of the gas explosion yesterday at East 7th Street and Second Avenue (shocking to witness the devastation and impact), and searching around a bit, it gave me ideas as far as finding the remaining animals (4 cats remain missing). The city agency, the AC&C (Animal Care & Control), is searching for the animals but, at the moment, it is very limited in scope. It seems to me there need to be outside efforts.

The focus for the ACC is the immediate area – the “crime scene” – to which they can only get partial and limited access to presently. There are building areas steps away that could be searched. I interviewed a lost cat expert and will post her tips. Two important ones are: Humane traps left with food in the backyards near the site and setting up [infrared] “wildlife cameras” to take pictures of animals that may come by to eat.

The people whose animals were in the later-demolished buildings (four cats remain missing, one is believed to be inside 125 Second Ave. which is still intact) need help.

Here are pictures of the scene taken Sunday —

corner of 2nd Ave and E 7th OEM stations
corner of 2nd Ave and E 7th OEM stations
where the buildings were (shocking)
where the buildings were -119, 121, 123 Second Ave (shocking in person)
125 Second Avenue
125 Second Avenue intact
A glimpse of what lies behind the demolished buildings...
A glimpse of what lies behind the demolished buildings… courtyards (hiding places for animals)

If you live nearby or if you can help, ask a building owner, super or tenant to check their backyard and stairwells (particularly East 7th), the only thing is the animal will be majorly scared and hiding. Ask them if they would be open to placing a humane trap with food in their backyard and/or an infrared wildlife camera (motion activated, night vision is the way to go).

Important: Proceed slowly, tell them not to chase the animal and to contact the animal’s respective person/guardian (see flyer with numbers below).

If you have ideas on how to get into nearby backyards, please email me! 7th Street can be accessed from Third Avenue, not Second. There are some ground level businesses on 7th Street although it is mostly residential, as well as, of course, St. Mark’s Place. The relevant backyard areas would be between 7th Street and St. Mark’s (equivalent of 8th Street) between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

See broken windows in 125
NYPD, view of site, 125 Second Ave, see broken windows

7th Street can be accessed from Third Avenue, not Second.

Blocked off East 7th
Police checkpoint mid-way East 7th betw 2nd and 3rd Aves
More Blocked off East 7th
East 7th
OEM bus on East 7th
OEM bus on East 7th
Uber-barricaded area East 7th
Barricaded area East 7th further down block

Bar Burp Castle Above (green awning to left, barely visible) just inside more restricted area. There are two sets of barricades on East 7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues right now. Burp Castle is a quirky bar. (Had it still been open pre-explosion? I was there once awhile ago. It was a fun place.) It is the last building inside the more restricted set of barricades just past where the demolished buildings existed on corner of 7th Street and 2nd Avenue. It would be a great place to look for the animals in backyard with humane traps, surveillance. Also there are a lot of stairwells on East 7th Street at almost basement level that should be searched, some have locked areas.

yard behind St. Marks
Yards like this one behind St. Marks need to be accessed (buildings to left)
Stairwells like this one need to be checked
Stairwells like this one need to be checked – some are locked
Window at Whiskers E. 9th Street, Missing Animal Flyers
Window at Whiskers E. 9th Street, Missing Animal Flyers, Some Found
This is Ryce still missing from 125 with Muffin, his friend
This is Ryce still missing from 125 with Muffin, his friend who escaped
Missing Animals Flyer
Missing Animals Flyer – Please look around

If you want to do something really nice for yourself and Greta Garbo, adopt this amazing Tuxedo cat who is at Whiskers store at 9th Street and 2nd Avenue!

lovely Greta Garbo needs a home...
lovely Greta Garbo needs a home…

All posts related to the missing animals and the gas explosion East Village can be found here.

Photos: Cathryn

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3 thoughts on “The Latest at East 7th & 2nd Avenue | Missing Animals Need “Aggressive, Detailed Search””

  1. Thank you for focusing attention on the desperate situation of pets who may have possibly survived the terrible fire on Second Avenue. Time is of the essence here, as you have pointed out. As someone who works in lower Manhattan and is involved in cat rescue, I very nearly came to the area just to look around the perimeter in hopes of helping with the search. Your photos were excellent and show that the key areas are blocked off to the public, so only those with access to the key areas are likely to be able to locate surviving animals. I wonder whether the owners can convince the authorities to use thermal imaging to assist with the search, as the Fire Department should have that capability. If the cat Ryce fled to another apartment and is holed up inside a box spring, how else will she be found? It is heartening to read that food and traps are placed at 125, but what if some of the apartment doors were closed off after being opened during the original searches? Please continue to bring attention to these helpless victims of the tragic events at these buildings.

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  2. Hi Lynn,

    Thank you for writing and your support and adding your knowledge of rescue. I took down phone numbers of landlords/supers on east 7th and st. marks that people gave me and also there are a few businesses on east 7th with phone numbers listed that I wrote down. This all involves on the ground work and I am not sure exactly how to put this together. These places on East 7th are not that far from the site, some are inside the police barricade (first picture) but they did let me go past the first set to look around (and I put flyers on doors just feeling this had to be done.)

    You are very astute about Ryce and the thermal imaging. The cat expert suggested this also and I mentioned this to the ACC as have the guardians of Ryce but I do not think this has been done yet. And you are also right that the doors were just closed off. Perhaps I will write up a separate Ryce piece. It is harder to know the fate of the others – or what if some were not reported (one cat that I wrote about, Sylvie, her name had not been given to the ACC) – so at least a quick look behind the buildings (while a cat may still hide) would be worthwhile.

    If you have advice for someone who might help coordinate, I do have phone numbers that perhaps could at least be called to take a quick look around. (If you are going to a building, you can go past the checkpoint.)

    Thanks for all this good advice and writing in.

    Cathryn

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