Tuesday, July 11, 2006 Posted: 0316 GMT (1116 HKT)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York City building erupted in flames and collapsed after an explosion Monday, and investigators are looking into whether the blast may have resulted from a suicide attempt, a fire official told CNN.
Five people were injured in the morning blast at the four-story building on the city's Upper East Side, and 10 firefighters were hurt in the aftermath.
New York Fire Department Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said that it "appears to have been a gas explosion." A spokesman for energy company Con Edison said one of its technicians was in a building next door at the time of the explosion and reported the odor of gas in the air. (Watch the emergency response to the fire and blast -- 1:34 )
Among the injured was the owner of the building, Dr. Nicholas Bartha, who was being treated Monday evening for second- and third-degree burns at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, according to the New York Fire Department.
Scoppetta said Bartha -- who worked in and owned the half-business, half-residential building on East 62nd Street -- sent an e-mail to someone in the neighborhood that "leads us to believe this may have been a suicide attempt."
Bartha had been struggling with a difficult divorce, according to Polly Passonneau, the attorney representing his ex-wife, Cordula Bartha. (Court opinion
)
Passonneau also said the doctor had sent Cordula Bartha an e-mail that implied he was threatening to commit suicide.
There were a number of addressees on the e-mail in addition to her client's, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, which, Passonneau said, indicates he may have been in an unusual state of mind when he sent it.
Bartha's former divorce attorney, Ira Garr, told CNN that he, along with New York Gov. George Pataki and Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, also were sent the rambling e-mail from Bartha on Monday morning at 6:29 a.m.
"When you read this ... your life will change forever," the e-mail read. "You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger. You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead."
The e-mail did not contain any mention of blowing up the building, according to Garr.
Central to the divorce was ownership of the destroyed building, he said, and part of the divorce settlement required the building's sale.
"His whole life was trying to achieve his version of the American dream, which was the ownership of the house," Garr said.
A divorce court ruling obtained by CNN says Bartha intentionally traumatized his ex-wife, a Jewish woman born in the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation, by taunting her with "swastika-adorned articles and notes affixed around their home."
When Bartha was pulled from the debris he was injured but alert, Scoppetta told CNN. The FDNY said Bartha had been described as communicative.
One victim in critical condition
Ten firefighters were hospitalized during the rescue effort with injuries that were not thought to be life threatening, apparently the result of heat exhaustion and smoke, a FDNY spokesperson said.
Five civilians also were injured, with one refusing medical treatment and the other four hospitalized.
One of the hospitalized civilians was in critical condition, and another was in serious condition, according to NewYork-Presbyterian spokesman John Rodgers. The two other civilians were being treated for minor injuries.
A New York Office of Emergency Management official said fire marshals were investigating to find where the explosion was ignited.
Scoppetta said the fire began in the basement of the building, where the doctor was found.
Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for New York's City's Department of Buildings, said the first floor and basement of the building contained doctors' offices, the second floor contained a single apartment, and the third and fourth stories were made up of a duplex apartment.
The building has been owned by Dr. Bartha since his parents, John and Ethel Bartha, deeded it to him in 1981, according to a document from New York's Office of City Registry.
Bartha's primary specialty is cardiovascular diseases, and he is registered with the American Board of Medical Specialties Certification for emergency medicine, according to the American Medical Association Web site.
Clouds of black smoke boiled from the building after the blast. As it cleared, firefighters moved in, going through the rubble in an attempt to rescue anyone injured.
The explosion blew out the windows with glass flying across the street, eyewitnesses report. (Watch as CNN's Larry King describes the collapse's aftermath -- 2:16)
However, there was not significant structural damage to adjacent buildings -- only a few cracks and broken windows -- according to a person with the Department of Buildings. One suffered water damage. (Watch a father recount his baby's rescue -- 2:40)
Eyewitness Theodore Milonas told CNN that three women emerged from the rubble after it exploded and were covered in blood.
Ann McGovern, a neighbor across the street, told CNN she "witnessed two bloody people exiting the building just minutes after the explosion."
CNN's Larry King was in a nearby hotel at the time of the explosion. He said it felt like an earthquake. "I've never heard a sound like that," King said. (Read King's description of the scene)
The fire department received a call reporting the explosion at 8:40 a.m., according to FDNY spokeswoman Emily Rahimi.
In Washington, administration officials quickly said there was no suspicion of terrorist involvement in the explosion.
T.J. Muncan, a real estate agent in the residential area around the building, estimated the property value for the 32 E. 62nd Street address could be $15 million to $20 million.
The building was between taller structures on East 62nd Street between Park and Madison avenues a few blocks from Central Park. (Map)
Building Blast Part of Unusual Suicide Attempt
July 10, 2006 12:47 PM
Richard Esposito Reports:
A Manhattan townhouse collapse was part of a successful doctor's highly unusual suicide attempt in the midst of a bitter divorce, police said.
Officials tell ABCNews.com Dr. Nicholas Bartha engineered the blast at one of New York City's most prestigious addresses in order to also prevent his estranged wife from obtaining the proceeds from the sale of their multi-million dollar Manhattan townhouse.
A rambling, electronic suicide note spelled out the doctor's reasoning, senior officials said.
In it, Dr. Bartha allegedly indicated he intended to kill himself and blow the building up at the same
This, investigators said, explained the unusual nature of the unsuccessful suicide bid.
Senior police officials, investigators and Office of Emergency Management officials all confirm, in addition to the contents of the note, that a gas explosion was the cause of the collapse of 34 East 62nd Street this morning.
The doctor survived the collapse and is reported by police to be in critical condition.
According to New York state court papers, Dr. Bartha had abused his wife, who was born in Nazi-occupied Holland, by posting "swastika-adorned articles and notes affixed around their home."
The Appellate Court found that Dr. Bartha "intentionally traumatized plaintiff, a woman of Jewish origin born in Nazi-occupied Holland, with swastika-adorned articles and notes affixed around their home, and became enraged when she removed them. He ignored her need for support and assistance while she was undergoing surgery and treatment for breast cancer. He systematically cut off her access to marital funds and credit as a means of psychological abuse."'
7.14.2006
Tampering found at NYC town house blast
By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 37 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Investigators confirmed Tuesday that a gas line had been tampered with before a landmark town house was leveled by an explosion, narrowing their focus on the building's owner, who is suspected of setting off the blast in a botched suicide attempt during a bitter divorce.
"We're saying this is intentional," said Louis Garcia, the city's chief fire marshal, adding that the modifications could have been made by "anybody who is handy."
Plastic tubing had been connected with a radiator valve to the main gas line in the basement of the Upper East Side building, Garcia said. With the valve left open, gas was able to flow freely into the house for hours before the blast.
The explosion on Monday hurled fireballs high into the sky and left the upscale block covered in bricks, broken glass and splintered wood. At least 15 people were injured, including five civilians and 10 firefighters.
Authorities have been investigating whether Dr. Nicholas Bartha, the lone occupant during the blast, might have caused the explosion rather than sell the house as part of a divorce judgment favoring his ex-wife. Bartha, a physician who lived and worked in the four-story building, remained in critical condition Tuesday after being rescued from the rubble a day earlier.
Detectives "want to talk to him, but haven't been able to because the extent of his injuries," police spokesman Paul Browne said.
Bartha, 66, became the sole suspect after police got a 911 call from his ex-wife, Cordula Bartha. She told them that her former husband had sent her a rambling e-mail shortly before the blast, saying she would soon be "transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger."
The husband went on to warn her, "You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead."
The ex-wife's lawyer said in an e-mail Tuesday that the doctor was the one who appealed a lower-court ruling that stated the house was not marital property and belonged to him. But he lost the house when a higher court ruled it was marital property.
"He unfortunately did not want to give her one penny, so he kept fighting," attorney Polly Passonneau wrote. "He is living with the consequences of his own behavior."
The 19th-century town house on 62nd Street between Park and Madison avenues once served as a secret meeting place for a group of prominent New Yorkers who informally gathered intelligence for President Franklin D. Roosevelt before and during World War II.
The building — just a few blocks from Central Park — was worth nearly $5 million based on a 2004 assessment and as much as $6.4 million in today's market. It was to be sold at auction in October to pay a $4 million judgment against Bartha, though his ex-wife had predicted he would not leave without a fight.
"He has said many times that he intends to 'die in my house,'" Cordula Bartha said in a petition filed last year.
The court records describe a bitter dispute that dragged on for five years.
According to a 2005 appellate court opinion, the doctor had "intentionally traumatized" his Jewish wife, who was born in Nazi-occupied Holland, by posting "swastika-adorned articles and notes" around their home. The opinion also said Bartha had "ignored her need for support and assistance while she was undergoing surgery and treatment for breast cancer."
Power company Consolidated Edison had been at the building on June 8 after a routine check found a gas leak in the pipe.
The gas was shut off, and Nicholas Bartha was asked to get the pipe fixed, a spokesman said. The gas was turned back on after the utility ensured the leak was fixed.
___
Associated Press Writer Adam Goldman contributed to this report.
replyThanks, posted.
Brian
7.14.2006
Think this one happened - Dr. Nicholas Bartha in NYC blew up his
building in the Upper East Side -he is in divorce proceedings and
didn't want his wife to get the house or proceeds of sale for it. 7
people injured -- He tampered with the gas main in the house to fill
the basement with gas - he sent an email to his wife before it
happened
reply
Thanks, posted.
Brian
7.14.2006
Wow, Brian - your predictions astound me! It was Dr. Nick Bartha, and the explosion happened on July 10th. Here's a brief clip from AOL News:
Authorities have been investigating whether Dr. Nicholas Bartha, the lone occupant during the blast, might have caused the explosion rather than sell the house as part of a divorce judgment favoring his ex-wife. Bartha, a physician who lived and worked in the four-story building, remained in critical condition Tuesday after being rescued from the rubble a day earlier.
By the way, I live just "down the road" from you in Virginia :).
reply
Hi, thanks for the story, where in Virginia?
Brian
7.14.2006
Aloha Brian:
reply
Hi, thanks, posted.
Brian
7.14.2006
You are right once again!!!!
reply
Hi, thanks, posted.
Brian
7.14.2006
Brian,
See Link Below for confirmation on this dream.
Rachel M.
reply
Hi Rachel, thanks, link posted.
Brian
7.14.2006
Not sure if this is who it referred to but seems really close to me... Hope all is well with you and your family.. keep the faith....
reply
Hi thank you, and things are going just fine, how about you?
Brian
7.14.2006
Hello Brian,
On Monday, July 10, Dr. Nicholas Bartha was the only person in a building in New York City that collapsed from a gas explosion. CNN reported that it may have been a suicide attempt because of a nasty divorce. Dr. Bartha did survive. Reports say that the gas lines were tampered with.
Linda
reply
Hi Linda, thanks, you would not believe all the people telling me about this one...take care.
Brian
7.14.2006
Blast, fire takes down New York City building
Suicide attempt suspected; 15 injured in explosion but none dead
NEW YORK - A four-story building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side collapsed into a pile of rubble Monday after a thunderous explosion that hurled fireballs skyward and left an upscale block littered with bricks, broken glass and splintered wood.Authorities said the blast was caused by gas, and they were investigating whether it was the result of a suicide attempt by the building’s owner, a doctor who was going through a bitter divorce. The doctor, Nicholas Bartha, 66, and a passer-by were severely hurt; at least 13 other people had minor injuries.Bartha recently sent out a rambling e-mail to his wife in which he contemplated suicide, a police official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.“When you read this ... your life will change forever,” the e-mail read in part. “You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger. You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead.”‘Deeply saddened and terribly upset’
The injured included five civilians and 10 firefighters. Bartha was pulled from the rubble after talking with authorities from his phone while buried in the wreckage, Fire Chief Nicholas Scoppetta said. Bartha and one passer-by suffered severe injuries; the others had minor injuries.
reply
Thanks, posted.
Brian
7.14.2006
Brian,
Here is the info from WABC in NYC --- very sad ---
Jim
reply
Hi Jim, thanks, posted.
Brian
(New York - WABC, July 10, 2006) - Did a New York City doctor blow up a building and try to kill himself because of a nasty divorce? That's the theory cops are working on.
They say Dr. Nicholas Bartha started a natural gas leak at the townhouse where he lived and worked on 62nd Street near Madison on the Upper East Side.
Traffic in the area is still a mess with East 62nd closed between Madison and Fifth Avenue as authorities deal with the aftermath of a four story townhouse reduced to rubble.
There is just about nothing left of 34 East 62nd Street in Manhattan, after the Monday morning blast that hurt 15 people, destroyed the building and set off a three alarm fire. One of the most amazing things about the blast is that no one was killed.
Just one man, Dr. Nicholas Bartha, was inside the building when it exploded. Now, he is fighting for his life and authorities say they believe he caused it all, caused the blast while trying to kill himself.
A family spokesman talked to members of the media late Monday night.
Robert Kloos: "The emotional turmoil wrought by the parties in the divorce proceedings brought about an unspeakable tragedy and it's too difficult to bear. Ms. Bartha cannot at this time withstand the additional burden of the media microscope from this personal tragedy."
Heavy equipment was moved in on the scene Monday afternoon, beginning to sift through the rubble. And investigators were inside trying to determine the source of the blast. Sources say they believe it originated in the basement of that building.
Larry King, TV Show Host: "I heard the loudest sound I ever heard in my life, an incredible boom, obviously an explosion. I thought it was a bomb. The first thing you think of is 9/11, naturally."
CNN's Larry King described the blast. Residents and even restaurant workers all thought the worst.
"We saw the whole building. The television was rattling. The plants fell off. Glasses were flying off," a neighbor said.
All four stories of 34 East 62nd Street, a duplex on the top and doctors' offices on the bottom, came crashing down in a matter of seconds. The blast sent debris and glass flying, injuring a number of pedestrians.
Police believe it was intentional, a bizarre suicide attempt by the doctor who lived and worked here who nearly died when the building blew up. Sources say it was a violent turn in a bitter divorce proceeding that began in 2002. Reportedly, a judgment was just handed down against the doctor on Friday in the divorce case. The building was set to be put on the market for sale at the end of the month as part of the settlement.
For more information on details of the divorce battle, check out Jim Hoffer's report.
Hundreds of firefighters responded after the blast.
"We had fire. We had gas. We had debris that was hanging. We have a large chimney above that could have collapsed," a firefighter said.
Several firefighters suffered injuries trying to remove the mountainous debris. In the end, the doctor was the only person found underneath the debris in the basement. He was still able to communicate with his rescuers.
"He kept saying, 'I need go to a hospital. Get me out of here.' And I'll tell you, the firefighters put their lives on the line here to rescue this doctor," another firefighter said.
The doctor was removed to the hospital in critical condition. Fourteen other people were hurt, ten of them firefighters. The good news: None of those other injuries is thought to be serious tonight, and with all the hustle and bustle on this block that is truly amazing.
Witnesses told Eyewitness News this was just a full sensory experience that was really scary because they did not only see it and hear it, they smelled it and more frightningly, they felt it.
"We were just standing here, and the next thing you know we were blown back like that," a doorman said.
The force of the explosion was strong enough to knock the doorman next door around inside of the lobby.
"The doors were blown wide open. We actually saw a lot of smoke right away. Actually, a pedestrian, a young woman was brought to the front of our building that was covered in blood," the doorman said.
Above them, they had an eerie view. The building, which was there one second was suddenly gone the next.
"There was a deafening boom and I started screaming at my wife and two kids across the street to run, run, run, because I didn't know if there was going to be another explosion," a witness said.
The gas that would fuel that fire was actually first detected early this morning. A neighbor on a dog walk knew she smelled fumes. She said she told herself she was being paranoid, and didn't report it. Two hours later came the blast so strong, it blew some nearby hotel patrons right out of their beds.
Witnesses say they wanted to get as far away as possible. There was no time to grab anything, not jewelry, not cash, they just grabbed each other and ran.
Residents of a nearby apartment building didn't get back in until late this afternoon, and even then not everyone could go home. Some of them have heavy smoke and water damage to deal with. And an office complex on the other side of the scene won't be usable until the fire escape for the building is freed of debris from the blast.
7.14.2006
Dr. Nicholas Bartha not 62 days is 62nd st
7.20.2006
Wow Brian, it didn't take long for this dream you had to come true. It happened yesterday 7/10 when Dr. Nicholas Bartha (In your dream it was Nick Barber, very close) tried to blow up this building in New York. And you had a dream about me so I know it's only a matter of time before my dream happens! Jennifer
reply
Hi, yes, seems to be that way :)
Thanks
Brian
7.20.2006
DD3987
Both phone numbers relate to Con Edison, NYC, and a Nick Bartha NYC, 34 e. 62nd Street.
Hope it can be stopped.
Linda
reply
Hi Linda, thanks, was told this...amazing.
Take Care,
Brian
7.20.2006
I think that the 62 referres to the address of the apartment of the explosion...it was 62nd i believe
reply
Hi, thanks, seems to be.
Brian
7.20.2006
Hi Brian
You are amazing, I have been following your site since february. I have a friend who has visions also and know it can sometimes be disturbing. She does not share them for that reason. Please know that I admire your courage..
I tried to look at the information on DD3987 but my code seems to no longer be working.
please send me a new one .
Thank you
Marie Sweeney
reply
Hi, thanks Marie...it's appreciated...and everyday I question if I should post this stuff.
Brian
7.20.2006
Hi Brian
I live in the UK and in my daily paper the other day was a story about a Dr Nick
Barker who tried to commit suicide in New York by blowing the building up where he
was, he is in intensive care at the moment as he didn't quite succeed in killing
himself.
Sue Gagon
reply
Hi, thanks, I have been told he did die...so I now agree that this was what this dream was about.
Brian
7.20.2006
Hi Brian,
just wanted to let you know that the phone # you wrote in the lower right corner (355-1450) is assigned to Dr. Nicholas Bartha.
How do You do that?!
Regards,
Sylwia
reply
Hi, thanks.
Brian
7.20.2006
Dear Brian:
Dr. Bartha died on Saturday from his burn wounds. He is the guy who blew up his house by deliberately causing a gas leak. He lived on 62nd. Street between Park and Madison in Manhattan. In other words, 62 in your dream meant the Street number and not number of days. I felt sorry for him. He was a cardiologist and/ER doctor. He married a woman who he either fell out of love or was never in love with. He stayed in the marriage because of his two daughters. His daughters turned out to be like his wife. After this incident, his wife and two daughters did not come to the hospital to see how he was at least during the first 24 hours. It is sad that the only happiness he had in his life were his parents and his job. Perhaps that is a lot more than most have and he should have appreciated that. It is sad that it had to come to this but I believe his two daughters and his wife got in the end what they deserved - at least from him.
As for the race horse, Barbaro, I want him to live despite what your dream states. The poor horse has gone through so much and it would be nice if he finally enjoys a little time here on earth on green pastures. I will be sadden if he dies now after all that he has gone through.
Enjoy your mini stories/dreams. I am happy that the California earthquakes and its other mother nature disasters willl not occur till August.
There is so much unhappiness in the world caused by man on man. It is disgusting. The question is why does this occur when it is completely unnecessary or is it? I say always what goes around comes around. I often believe that life for all of us is already prewritten and we as actors are playing our part. Why would any of us want to live on this earth? I don't know, but I suspect that despite all misery felt, we are survivors in our own right.
Hope your family and you are not roasting! You are living on the East Coast Why haven't you moved to safer ground to avoid any future potential hurricane or big wave?
Best Wishes,
Susie
=
reply
Thanks Susie, I live in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, not too much happens here.
Brian
7.20.2006
Hi Brian!
I hope You and Yours are well!
I know that you recieved a lot of emails about this DD..but you were 100 % correct.
The good Doctor Bartha died yesterday morning.
Not god news of course, but you are as usaual right on the money..
Take care. Keep cool too.
Here is the link!
Peace Love and Laughter, Helena
reply
Hi Helena, thanks, posted.
Brian
Doctor suspected in NYC building collapse dies
Bartha succumbs to injuries sustained in July 10 blast that destroyed home
Updated: 11:57 a.m. ET July 16, 2006
NEW YORK - The doctor suspected of blowing up his town house rather than allowing his ex-wife to benefit from its sale has died, nearly a week after suffering critical injuries in the blast, a hospital spokeswoman said Sunday.
Dr. Nicholas Bartha, 66, died late Saturday, said Mary Halston, an administrator at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Police had been unable to speak to Bartha after the July 10 explosion because of his condition, but authorities have said they were investigating whether he might have caused it rather than sell the town house as part of a divorce judgment favoring his ex-wife.
Bartha’s ex-wife, Cordula Bartha, told police she received an e-mail from him shortly before the explosion warning that she would be “transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger.”
“I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead,” the e-mail said.
Investigators have confirmed that someone tampered with a gas line leading into the home’s basement, allowing vapors to flow for hours until it caused the building to blow up.
The physician, who lived and worked in the four-story landmark on Manhattan’s upscale Upper East Side, was the lone occupant during the blast. It leveled the building and left the block covered in bricks, broken glass and splintered wood. At least 14 other people were injured, including 10 firefighters, authorities said.
Rescuers pulled the doctor from the rubble after hearing his calls. He was in critical condition at the Weill Cornell campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital until he died.
The town house and land were worth nearly $6.4 million, according to the city’s finance department. The property was to be sold at auction in October to pay a $4 million judgment against Bartha, though his ex-wife had predicted he wouldn’t leave without a fight.
“He has said many times that he intends to ‘die in my house,’” Cordula Bartha said in a petition filed last year.
The doctor was responsible for other implied threats against his ex-wife, according to court records.
A 2005 appellate court opinion said the doctor had “intentionally traumatized” Cordula Bartha, a Jew who was born in Nazi-occupied Holland, by posting “swastika-adorned articles and notes” around their home. The opinion also said Bartha had “ignored her need for support and assistance while she was undergoing surgery and treatment for breast cancer.”
The man’s next-door neighbors had sued him Friday, claiming the explosion damaged their cooperative apartment and forced them to leave it. They also named the Consolidated Edison utility as a defendant, accusing it of failing to have proper safety devices.
Con Ed has said it does not comment on pending litigation.
7.20.2006
Hi, Brian. You were entirely correct ... the doctor passed away from his injuries on Saturday July 15th. Your predictions are amazingly accurate. Thanks for sharing them.
Lorraine
replyHi Thanks, too bad someone did not help this guy out.Brian
7.20.2006
Hi Brian,
A story on CNN.com indicates that Dr. Bartha has died of his burns. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/17/building.collapse.ap/index.html
--Jessica
reply
Thanks Jessica.
Brian
7.21.2006
Hi Brian,
I was driving into NYC on Sunday when the news stated Nick Bartha, who exploded his own townhouse, has died.
That completes your dream.
I have written to Geraldo regarding your dreams and challenged him to study them, I mentioned the stories he previously had been covering, Osama Bin Ladens location and Natalie Holloways whereabouts. Lets hope he jumps on the bandwagon.
You have abilities that can save lives and change the world, it only a matter of time before you are taken seriously by the media.
All the very best,
Linda
reply
Thanks Linda, posted.
Brian
7.26.2006Brian,
Here is what I found for this one. See the yellow highlighted phone number.
Also I included a link to the story on cnn.
Thanks,
Michelle
reply
Hi, thanks Michelle, story posted.
Brian
http://www.coned.com/sales/business/zone_gas_rate.asp
New York building collapse injures 15
Owner's e-mail: 'I will leave the house only if I am dead'
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York City building erupted in flames and collapsed after an explosion Monday, and investigators are looking into whether the blast may have resulted from a suicide attempt, a fire official told CNN.
Five people were injured in the morning blast at the four-story building on the city's Upper East Side, and 10 firefighters were hurt in the aftermath.
New York Fire Department Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said that it "appears to have been a gas explosion." A spokesman for energy company Con Edison said one of its technicians was in a building next door at the time of the explosion and reported the odor of gas in the air. (
Watch the emergency response to the fire and blast -- 1:34 )
Among the injured was the owner of the building, Dr. Nicholas Bartha, who was being treated Monday evening for second- and third-degree burns at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, according to the New York Fire Department.
Scoppetta said Bartha -- who worked in and owned the half-business, half-residential building on East 62nd Street -- sent an e-mail to someone in the neighborhood that "leads us to believe this may have been a suicide attempt."
Bartha had been struggling with a difficult divorce, according to Polly Passonneau, the attorney representing his ex-wife, Cordula Bartha. (
Court opinion
)
Passonneau also said the doctor had sent Cordula Bartha an e-mail that implied he was threatening to commit suicide.
There were a number of addressees on the e-mail in addition to her client's, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, which, Passonneau said, indicates he may have been in an unusual state of mind when he sent it.
Bartha's former divorce attorney, Ira Garr, told CNN that he, along with New York Gov. George Pataki and Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, also were sent the rambling e-mail from Bartha on Monday morning at 6:29 a.m.
"When you read this ... your life will change forever," the e-mail read. "You deserve it. You will be transformed from gold digger to ash and rubbish digger. You always wanted me to sell the house. I always told you I will leave the house only if I am dead."
The e-mail did not contain any mention of blowing up the building, according to Garr.
Central to the divorce was ownership of the destroyed building, he said, and part of the divorce settlement required the building's sale.
"His whole life was trying to achieve his version of the American dream, which was the ownership of the house," Garr said.
A divorce court ruling obtained by CNN says Bartha intentionally traumatized his ex-wife, a Jewish woman born in the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation, by taunting her with "swastika-adorned articles and notes affixed around their home."
When Bartha was pulled from the debris he was injured but alert, Scoppetta told CNN. The FDNY said Bartha had been described as communicative.
One victim in critical condition
Ten firefighters were hospitalized during the rescue effort with injuries that were not thought to be life threatening, apparently the result of heat exhaustion and smoke, a FDNY spokesperson said.
Five civilians also were injured, with one refusing medical treatment and the other four hospitalized.
One of the hospitalized civilians was in critical condition, and another was in serious condition, according to NewYork-Presbyterian spokesman John Rodgers. The two other civilians were being treated for minor injuries.
A New York Office of Emergency Management official said fire marshals were investigating to find where the explosion was ignited.
Scoppetta said the fire began in the basement of the building, where the doctor was found.
Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for New York's City's Department of Buildings, said the first floor and basement of the building contained doctors' offices, the second floor contained a single apartment, and the third and fourth stories were made up of a duplex apartment.
The building has been owned by Dr. Bartha since his parents, John and Ethel Bartha, deeded it to him in 1981, according to a document from New York's Office of City Registry.
Bartha's primary specialty is cardiovascular diseases, and he is registered with the American Board of Medical Specialties Certification for emergency medicine, according to the American Medical Association Web site.
Clouds of black smoke boiled from the building after the blast. As it cleared, firefighters moved in, going through the rubble in an attempt to rescue anyone injured.
However, there was not significant structural damage to adjacent buildings -- only a few cracks and broken windows -- according to a person with the Department of Buildings. One suffered water damage. (
Watch a father recount his baby's rescue -- 2:40)
Eyewitness Theodore Milonas told CNN that three women emerged from the rubble after it exploded and were covered in blood.
Ann McGovern, a neighbor across the street, told CNN she "witnessed two bloody people exiting the building just minutes after the explosion."
CNN's Larry King was in a nearby hotel at the time of the explosion. He said it felt like an earthquake. "I've never heard a sound like that," King said. (
Read King's description of the scene)
The fire department received a call reporting the explosion at 8:40 a.m., according to FDNY spokeswoman Emily Rahimi.
In Washington, administration officials quickly said there was no suspicion of terrorist involvement in the explosion.
T.J. Muncan, a real estate agent in the residential area around the building, estimated the property value for the 32 E. 62nd Street address could be $15 million to $20 million.
The building was between taller structures on East 62nd Street between Park and Madison avenues a few blocks from Central Park. (
Map)
tell-a-friend about this page
Home - Brian's Dreams TV Channel - Become a Member - Subliminal Store! - More About Me - Site News - Popular Dreams that have come true! - Verified Dreams - Spread the word - Last night's dreams - Dreams this month - Dreams archives - Dream thumbnails - Missing Persons Section - Missing Person Forum - Team Cases - Missing Persons Radio - Missing Database - Remote/Brian viewing - Free dream newsletter - Contact me - Invention dreams - Spread the word - Reader's letters and comments - Request a dream/pillow viewing - Donate - Free Lottery and Stock Picks - Proof of God and the human Soul - Secrets - Dream Cures - FBI Most Wanted - Help Wanted - Sitemap
