Memory Lane: The Explosion Heard Throughout the City

In the summer of 1987, a calamity took place on 18th Avenue in Boro Park. The younger ones among us will not remember it, but anyone who was in the vicinity will never forget it. A propane tank accident resulted in an explosion of massive proportions—killing four people, injuring forty, and leveling four storefronts (the site of which is today Goldberg’s Supermarket). The miracles that occurred then are celebrated to this day, each and every year.  

‘Like London in WWII’

Tuesday morning, July 21/ 24 Tammuz, of that year began like any other workday for Yaakov “Ziggy” Zagelbaum, then the proprietor of 18th Avenue Plumbing Supply. Arriving early in the morning, he witnessed the weekly delivery of propane tanks to the basement of his store. 

An early customer told a reporter that he witnessed two propane tanks collide with each other, and one bounced down the cellar stairs, becoming damaged in the process. It began spewing gas, which is in itself not the worst thing. “Except,” Yaakov said in an interview with Mishpacha, “that we had a water tank down there.

“Now this water tank was, for the most part, inactive, used for just a sink or two that provided the store with hot water. It wasn’t even a lot of hot water — there were no tubs, showers, or bathrooms, just a couple of faucets — but when the gas reached the tank’s pilot light, the whole building turned into a huge missile, a tremendous bomb ready to explode.” 

And that is exactly what happened next. 

“It didn’t take more than maybe 30 seconds — the cement between the bricks of the building began spraying out violently. It felt like a sudden, powerful sandstorm. And next, the bricks themselves began shooting out like missiles, flying maybe 200 or 300 feet in all directions. It happened so fast there was no time to process a coherent thought; a bizarre horror scene, bricks and mortar erupting from a calm façade as a solid building exploded.

“In seconds, I saw the entire building, showcase window and all, rise in the air before crashing back down — onto me, around me, everywhere. The building — and four adjoining buildings — collapsed into tremendous heaps of rubble. Instinctively, I put my hand up to block it, but I was literally under it.” 

Four lives were lost, and dozens were injured in the unbelievable explosion. And that Yaakov survived is an absolute miracle. 

‘With G-d’s Gloves’ 

Amid the chaos and the loss, the New York Daily News recognized the heroism of Chevra Hatzolah, which rushed toward danger, running into the rubble, searching for survivors and evacuating them to local hospitals. On the following day, a major piece of their coverage was focused on the heroism of Hatzolah members. At a time when the organization was in its infancy, they immediately made a name for themselves as they bravely ran to help, no matter the obstacles. 

“They answer the call,” the Daily News captioned the picture of R’ Nachman Neiger, longtime Hatzolah veteran running with a stretcher.  “The name in Hebrew means ‘help’ and yesterday members of Hatzolah—a Jewish volunteer ambulance corps—were true to the name when trhee buildings blew up in Brooklyn. 

“With G-d’s gloves,” said a headline the following morning in Newsday, like its counterparts focusing in on the heroism of Hatzolah members. “When the explosion ripped through the two-story buildings in the heart of Borough Park, Isaac Abraham was in his Church Avenue hardware store. Mark Davidman, 28, was at Foster Avenue and East 58th Street where he works for Metro Ambulance. Volvie Herman, 35, an electrical contractor, was two blocks away… 

“It was like a war zone. I got there and a woman pointed to a pile of concrete and beams and said ‘a man is in there,’ so I started digging,” said Volvie Herman, 25 a Hatzoloh emergency medical technician for six years.”