UPDATED: Greenpoint Explosion Occurred At Recycling Plant

[UPDATE BELOW] We just received emails from readers about an explosion/boom in Greepoint: "Huge explosion heard in Greenpoint. Can't see anything but can hear sirens and fire trucks heading to the scene. Don't know what happened. I work at Diamond St. & Meserole Ave., could feel the building shake." "I live on Monitor St near McGolrick Park. There was just a very loud boom that shook the ground. Now I hear sirens. All the neighbors are out on the street. Any idea what happened?" Did anyone else hear it? Or does someone know? We're also checking with authorities.

Update: The 94th Precinct didn't have any information available but did say there were units at the scene.

Update 4:45 PM: Mystery solved: The Office of Emergency Management tells us that an acetylene tank at a recycling facility at 540 Kingsland Avenue exploded after getting hit by a "piece of machinary." At this time, it's believed that there are only minor injuries. So what's acetylene? According to Wikipedia, "Its singular hazard is associated with its intrinsic instability, especially when it is pressurized. Samples of concentrated or pure acetylene can easily react in an addition-type reaction to form a number of products." Thank God it wasn't one of the sewage digester eggs—they are just across the street!

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on March 31, 2010 4:54 PM

Comments [rss]

xgeyiph772

Poor hipsters must of shit their skinny jeans! They must of all packed up their tables of used books and hopped on their bikes heading for Ohio.

jaycjay

Your thinking of Williamsburg. Only 8.2% of Greenpoint's population is between 20 and 24, 43.6% of the residents claim Polish ancestry, and the median household income is $33,578 as compared to Williamsburg's median household income of $23,567. More people working; fewer in school.

Sure, there are few hipsters scattered about, mostly in the area close to to McCarren Park (and so the Williamsburg border) but they're very much a minority. You don't see them much during the day, but a bunch do come up from Williamsburg at night.

On a given day in the neighborhood I talk to more people who were born in Greenpoint than in Ohio.

xgeyiph772

Well aren't you just helpful, all those numbers and stuff. You've been holding on to them for a while now and just couldn't wait to drag them out, now could you? :)

Used to live in Greenpoint in the early '90s, so I'm well aware of the makeup of the area. And trust me, the last thing I want to do is talk to one of the many drunken natives who party EVERY night until the early morning. Got outta there after six months and never looked back.

jaycjay

"You've been holding on to them for a while now and just couldn't wait to drag them out, now could you?"

Nope. Just looked them up. Because while having lived here for over a decade I'm aware of what's changed, I'm also very much aware that Greenpoint isn't a hipster haven. You can find them if you want to be around them, but it's very easy not to be.

A Wandering New Yorker

My friend who works for a contractor that services Newtown Creek said that they are currently under lock down. He is not allowed to leave his trailer, they have increased the number of guards at the site, and guards are armed and ready to fire.

It's awfully coincidental that this happens on the day as the MTA "security drill."

FutureMan83

I heard that, assumed it was nothing and went back to watching ESPN. now that I know what it was, I'm gonna go back to watching ESPN.

Lourdes

I thought all of Manhattan exploded

StayBank

Thought I felt it here in San Antonio. But it was just burrito I had for lunch.

Kevin

540 Kingsland is owned by the oil companies--that's exactly where the oil cleanup is happening. I don't think there are any recycling plants there.

jaycjay

No, 540 Kingsland is ARC Scrap Metal, aka Allocco Recycling Corp.

http://www.alloccorecycling.com/

Makes sense given that it was acetylene, and cutting scrap metal means acetylene torches.

chuzzlewit

co kurwa, do kurwy nędzy !

(that's polish for "what the fuck?" - i looked it up. you can yell it out the window.)

njc_bk_nyc

Woah, I hear it indoors at north 12th and kent. Sounded like a truck hit wall on the first floor.

Greenpoint60

The fucking building shook, now I know what it was

leon

too bad it wasn't the precinct

Helen Thomas knows the score

nice job gothamist! faster than twitter. ny1 hasent even gotten out of bed. :)

10:02am

Can anyone further pinpoint the location of the explosion???

jaycjay

http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=540+kingland+ave+brooklyn&fb=1&gl=us&hq=540+kingland+ave&hnear=brooklyn&view=text&ei=yrazS8uhFYGKlwfQhqy7BA&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CBEQtQMwAA

jaycjay

Oops. I mistyped "Kingsland." Google still got pretty close, but this is more accurate:

http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=540+kingland+ave+brooklyn&fb=1&gl=us&hq=540+kingland+ave&hnear=brooklyn&view=text&ei=yrazS8uhFYGKlwfQhqy7BA&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CBEQtQMwAA

jaycjay

From the street view, it'd be one of the places coming up on the left.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=540+kingsland+ave&sll=40.729047,-73.944168&sspn=0.008813,0.018411&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=540+Kingsland+Ave,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+11222&ll=40.73465,-73.944916&spn=0.000555,0.001151&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=40.734589,-73.944817&panoid=v0s23DZLStyoWDgBpV1tkw&cbp=12,126.68,,0,4.58