Displaced by Manhattan blast, tenants reflect on landlord's arrest

New York

FOR several years, the rent-regulated tenants of 119 Second Ave in Manhattan's East Village say, they complained to city inspectors about a clanging, squeaking exhaust system in the building's air shaft.

They say they watched in fear as their landlord, Maria Hrynenko, installed a camera to track their comings and goings. They stood their ground in court battles as Hrynenko tried to evict them, they said.

Hrynenko was one of five people arrested on Thursday, nearly a year after prosecutors say an illegal gas hookup at her building next door led to an explosion that killed two people and flattened three buildings, including 119 Second Ave.

Some of those tenants, now scattered across the city and country, were encouraged by t…