The Stage Restaurant at 128 Second Avenue has been shuttered since shady gas piping was discovered in its basement soon after last month's East Village gas explosion, with owner Roman Diakun reportedly locked in a battle with the building's landlord. Diakun's son has now started circulating a petition aiming to get the restaurant up-and-running, just as other businesses in the area are starting to get back on track.

EV Grieve first reported the petition yesterday, following earlier reports that Diakun was considering closing the restaurant for good. 128 Second Avenue has had a stop work order placed on it since a worker was spotted installing illegal gas piping in the cellar—the building's landlord, Icon Realty, claims Diakun installed the piping without their knowledge, an allegation Diakun has denied.

Per the petition:

Stage Restaurant has been in business for 35 years in the East Village of Manhattan NYC. A few days after the explosion which happened on Second Avenue on Thursday March 26, 2015, a tenant living in the building where Stage Restaurant is located called Con Edison stating that he/she smelled gas in their apartment. As a precaution and safety measure, Con Edison shut off the gas supply to the entire building located at 128 Second Avenue. As a result, Stage Restaurant has been without gas for 2 weeks already, and has been closed as a result. Stage Restaurant has tried to reopen during this time, but is having trouble with the landlord in order to do so.
Let's not lose one of the last neighborhood staples which has been around for this long.

128 Second Avenue's residential tenants, who've noted that they've been plagued with problems since Icon took over the building in 2013, are still without gas, though management has provided them with hot plates and claims they'll be getting rent reductions. One tenant tells us that Icon has hired private armed security guards to escort residents out of the building in case of a fire thanks to a faulty fire escape. The DOB's website says that complaints about locked or blocked fire doors are unsubstantiated, and notes "fire guards in place in lieu of second means of egress."

According to the DOB, 128 Second Avenue was issued a full stop work order this week, after it was discovered that "framing, electrical, and plumbing" work was being done without the necessary permits in several apartments.

An attorney for Icon has not yet provided comment regarding the stop work order, but we will update when more information is available. Meanwhile, the petition to reopen The Stage had garnered 500 signatures as of this afternoon.