INSIDE GAS HORROR
‘People kept disappearing’g at LI eatery
A faulty flue pipe from a hotwater heater was behind the carbonmonoxide leak that killed a manager at a Long Island eatery and hospitalized more than two dozen others, including several cops, officials said Sunday as new details about the nightmare emerged.
Legal Sea Foods manager Steven Nelson, a 55yearold father of two from Copiague, was found dead Saturday evening in the basement of the restaurant, which anchors the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington.
Nelson went to a basement bathroom at around 6 p.m., and when he didn’t return, assistant manager Megan Smith went to look for him, restaurant workers said.
She passed out from the odorless fumes while bang ing on the bathroom door asking Nelson if he was all right, they said.
“People kept disappearing down there,” a worker said. “That’s how they knew something was wrong.”
Smith was hospitalized in stable condition Sunday.
The restaurant had no carbonmonoxide detectors, which is not required under state and town laws, said Huntington’s chief fire marshal, Terrence McNally.
Roger Berkowitz, president and CEO of Legal Sea Foods, called the tragedy “a terrible wakeup call.”
“Maybe we need to concentrate on putting carbonmonoxide detectors in commercial spaces,’’ he said. “We will now make sure we put them in all our restaurants.”
Restaurant bartender John Restel, 26, called Nelson “a good guy.”
“He was really into the job and asked everyone to highfive their partners before they began their shifts,” Restel said.
Berkowitz said Nelson had worked for the restaurant for three years and had two sons.
“It’s a shock,” Berkowitz ssaid. “We consider ourselves a family.”
Twentyseven people, inccluding Smith, other workers, police and EMS responders, were treated at three area hospitals.
The restaurant was evacuaated Saturday, as were two oothers in the mall.
“It was a wild scene,” said Lori Rodriguez, 32, who was eating at the Cheesecake FFactory at the time. “People were freaked out, wondering if the food was poisoned or if tthere was a bomb.”
The shop was inspected last March, and no problems were found, officials said. After the accident, it was cited for violating town ordinances by having defective equipment.
The restaurant will not be allowed to reopen until managers can show officials that the water heaters have been repaired.