Pommes Frites Will Reopen After NYC Explosion

There's great news for New York's fry obsessed: the beloved Pommes Frites will reopen later this year at a new location. Since being destroyed in the Second Avenue explosion in the East Village in March, that killed two people and injured many more, the restaurant has been out of business and looking for a new place to open shop. Because of high rent prices, Pommes Frites is leaving the East Village, where it's stood for 18 years, and moving slightly west to 128 MacDougal St. in Greenwich Village, Gothamist reports. Pommes Frites is slowly but surely recovering from the tragic gas explosion a few months ago, but how are the other businesses destroyed in the Second Avenue explosion doing?

Pommes Frites isn't moving too far from its original location — 128 MacDougal St. is less than a mile from the Second Avenue address. Co-owner Omer Shorshi told DNAinfo he couldn't find a cheap enough building in the East Village. The old spot cost $5,000 a month, according to Shorshi, and their new space will be $9,000 for 300 more square feet. Hopefully the extra space means there will actually be available seats from time to time. Because of the extra costs, the shop plans to start a new Indiegogo fundraising campaign to help with moving costs, according to The Huffington Post, but it isn't up and running yet. Shorshi told DNAinfo their first online fundraiser raised about $2,500.

Not only is Pommes Frites reopening, but it's going to have a bigger space and a beer and wine license. Just when you think something can't get any better, it does. Ethan Hartman, a Pommes Frites spokesman, told The Huffington Post the fry shop will serve Belgian ales to go along with the frites. If Pommes Frites wasn't already your favorite late-night snack, the new and improved eatery should be.

Less is known about the fate of the other two businesses destroyed in the explosion — Sushi Park and Sam's Deli. In April, Sushi Park's chef, Machendra Chongbang, 28, filed a lawsuit for negligence seeking damages against the building's owner. Chongbang was working in the kitchen at the time of the explosion and has been too disabled to work since the incident, Chongbang's lawyer, Marius Wesser, told the New York Daily News.

The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City has raised $125,000 to help people directly affected by the tragic explosion. Donations are still being accepted on the fund's website, from $5 to $15,000, if you want to assist with the continuing recovery efforts.

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