BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | Their time in unexpected exile seemed much longer than three days — but life began to settle back into its old pattern and pace by Tuesday afternoon, as the majority of businesses on W. 23rd St., btw. Sixth and Seventh Aves., reopened following an explosion that broke windows and shattered nerves early in the evening of Sat., Sept. 17.
Many stores and restaurants were experiencing a dip in business, as word had yet to reach those for whom this crosstown thoroughfare is a part of life’s everyday routine.
“Business went down big time,” said Eduardo Sanchez, 43, manager of Flavors, a cafe at 100 W. 23rd St., on the corner near Sixth Ave.
On Tuesday, the usually packed place was having a lackadaisical lunch, said Sanchez, who noted the lack of a crowd.
Next door to Flavors is Great Burrito. Owner Maximo Garcia said his wife was at the restaurant on Saturday night when the bomb went off, and the next thing she knew, people were running and bleeding.
Tuesday was the first day the burrito joint had been opened since the bombing, Garcia told Chelsea Now while he doled out burritos de la casa in the small place crowded with lunchtime customers.
Garcia, who has owned the restaurant for 15 years, said business was affected, and he hopes something like this does not happen again.
Further down the block, closer to the explosion, all the windows at 130 W. 23rd St. were empty maws — the glass was shattered during the blast. Dayron Rodriguez, 39, is a supervisor for GLASSwerks, a family-owned glass fabrication and installation company based in Long Island City. He said they would work as fast as possible to replace the windows.
“I’ve seen broken glass, but this is a lot in one shot,” said Rodriguez, standing in front of the blocked-off building.
Though he now lives Uptown, he was born and raised on the Lower East Side and knew the area.
“It’s a hardship for everybody,” Rodriguez said of the explosion. “It’s a matter of people coming together to put it all back together.”
“Our doors were completely shattered,” said Jessica Kumari, 36, owner of Orangetheory Fitness at 124 W. 23rd St.
In addition, the glass windows outside of the studio will also have to be replaced, Kumari said in a phone interview.
“It will take a couple of weeks for us to get everything back in order,” she said.
After the explosion, police asked business owners on W. 23rd St. if they had any surveillance footage, and Orangetheory did, explained Kumari. The footage, which showed a flash from the blast and then people running, was soon everywhere.
“I’m happy that we could help,” she said, “if it helped in any way to catch the guy.”
At nearby La Maison du Macaron at 132 W. 23rd St., owner Pascal Goupil, 53, told Chelsea Now, “We have been so lucky. The bomb container was about 30 feet away.”
Goupil said his store, which sells made-in-house macarons of every pastel color imaginable and smells like pastry goodness, had taken a hit in business.
He was happy his windows had not been broken, and Tuesday was the first day the shop was open after the explosion. Outside, a multi-colored placard advertised “Free Coffee for NYPD’s Bravest and News Crews.”
Further down the block, customers milled around the neighborhood supermarket, Garden of Eden at 162 W. 23rd St. during lunchtime.
Nargis Begum, assistant manager, said, “Yesterday we were open, but it was dead.”
Begum, who has worked at the supermarket for 19 years, said business was back to normal the next day, on Tuesday.
Longtime Penn South resident Selma Shimshi, 85, was shopping for bread and other sundries at Garden of Eden.
“It was little scary,” said Shimshi, who has lived in Chelsea for over 50 years, of the blast. “Nothing has ever happened like that before. Never expected something like this.”
Shimshi, who frequents the supermarket once a week, said she is happy things are getting back to normal.
Domino’s Pizza at 170 W. 23rd St. experienced less business during football-Sunday, assistant manager Masum Chowdhury, 22, told Chelsea Now. Customers couldn’t get through the barricades to pick up orders, and some people are still scared, he said.
“Business is going back to normal, but it’s going to take awhile,” Chowdhury said.
Nearby at ViVi Bubble Tea, also at 170 W. 23rd St., manager Jenny Wu, 23, said it opened for the first time on Tuesday after the explosion.
“We understand we had to be closed for a few days,” she said. “There is still a little bit level of tension, but everything is going to be okay.”
On the other side of W. 23rd St., at Chelsea Papaya, Arif Bhuiyn, 47, said he was surprised an explosion happened in Chelsea.
“I never thought it would be this neighborhood,” said Bhuiyn, who has managed Chelsea Papaya and next door’s The Best Pizza, both at 171 W. 23rd St., for 10 years.
He was in the basement of the building that houses Chelsea Papaya when the bomb went off.
“I was amazed at the response — very quick,” he said of the NYPD and the FDNY. “Everybody came together.”
At the Made Man Barbershop at 169 W. 23rd St., one of the owners, Adam Aminov, 37, estimated the street closure after the incident reduced business by about 70%. Aminov and his partners also own a Made Man Barbershop across the street at 170 W. 23rd St.
“It takes time — people are scared,” he said, noting that lunchtime is normally much busier than it was on Tuesday. “I’m sure it will be back to normal.”
Binod Bhattarai, 51, assistant manager at Landmark Wine & Spirits at 167 W. 23rd St. said he had just done a delivery right by where the bomb was, 15 minutes before it went off.
He felt the explosion and heard a loud noise when it happened, but the gravity of what had transpired didn’t hit him until he got to his home in Queens.
He has worked on the street for 11 years and knows the neighborhood well, expressing shock that something like this happened in Chelsea.
A few doors down at Selis Manor, a home for the blind and visually impaired at 135 W. 23rd St., Cesar Vida, head superintendent for the building for 29 years, shook his head when asked about the explosion, and said, “It was terrible.”
An east emergency door, scaffolding and cameras blew out due to the blast, said Vida, 64.
Vida explained that the entire building is undergoing a complete renovation and they are in the process of replacing windows in 12 apartments that were damaged.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Boris Kataeyv, 36. “When I got home, and heard the news, I was shocked.”
Kataeyv has owned Chelsea Hair Studio at 115 W. 23rd St. for almost three years. He estimated that his business is down by 80% and said people are still calling and asking if his store is okay.
Maria Sim, 40, also expressed disbelief that a bomb went off on the street. Sim, a cashier for six years at Cafe Deli-Cious at 115 W. 23rd St., said she was surprised the area had been targeted.
The Dunkin’ Donuts a few doors down at 101 W. 23rd St. was hopping.
“Chelsea is back to its normal routine,” said Narendra Gujjar, 23, the store’s manager. Outside the Dunkin,’ a posted sign on the door offered free coffee and a thank you to first responders and uniformed personnel.
At the UPS store, also at 101 W. 23rd St., manager Calvin Morrison, 28, said it was business as usual on Tuesday.
“We’ve been around the block with our terror situations for New York,” he said. “We’re having better turnaround with events like this.”
Meanwhile, on W. 27th St. btw. Sixth and Seventh Aves., where a second incendiary device — a pressure cooker — was found, businesses reported mostly no change.
“This street has been quiet,” said Carlos Gonzalez, 64. “It’s been tranquil.” Gonzalez has owned Nobel Printing at 122 W. 27th St. for about 29 years and said his business has not been affected.
Carlos Gonzalez, owner of Nobel Printing owner of Nobel Printing (122 W. 27th St.), reported no change to his business, save for a more “quiet” block. Photo by Dusica Sue Malesevic.
A few doors down from Nobel Printing, Larry Cowit, 57, one of the owners of Madison Avenue Furs at 118 W. 27th St., said nothing has changed. However, the proximity of his shop to the device was “pretty unnerving,” he said.
“It’s pretty freaky it’s our block,” said Cowit.
On the other side of the block, closer to Seventh Ave., manager Shanel Feliciano said there has been a slowdown in business at D’Edge Chelsea, a salon at 153 W. 27th St.
Feliciano, 25, said she was still nervous after the blast and found device.
She added, “You just never know who’s good and who’s bad.”
