A gas explosion destroys Overbrook Park bagel shop, two months after a similar blast

Beloved Overbrook Park kosher bakery New York Bagels was rocked by its second gas explosion in just over two months — this time on the day of its grand reopening, according to owner Rayyan Kayyali.

Kayyali and Rabbi Yonah Gross had been inside the bakery at 7555 Haverford Ave. late Saturday night rolling dough, inspecting ingredients, and batching cream cheese for what Kayyali thought would be the shop’s biggest Mother’s Day yet.

As a kashrus administrator for the Community Kashrus of Greater Philadelphia, Gross’s job is to set a timer for the oven to turn on at 5 a.m. for baking, a step that certifies New York Bagels as pas Yisroel kosher since Kayyali isn’t Jewish.

“I personally went inside the oven to make sure the gas pipe was clean,” Kayyali said. Gross agreed: The oven “seemed to be working as normal.”

Yet sometime after they left and before 5 a.m., Kayyali said, an explosion occurred that blew through the front of New York Bagels’ storefront, knocking out new windows and fresh ceiling panels to reveal electrical wiring. Nearly all of the kitchen’s new appliances are damaged too, he said.

Kayyali learned of the explosion when his baker texted him at 5 a.m. when he arrived. to find the storefront exposed. What remained of its windows were in shards that covered the parking lot.

“He said it looked like a car crash,” Kayyali recalled his baker telling him. “I’m feeling miserable.”

Just before 9 a.m. Sunday morning, crews from Philadelphia Gas Works and PECO were assessing damage as New York Bagels employees handed out free containers of cream cheese and tuna salad to customers. Only the storefront’s accoutrement fridge and freshly installed front counter, draped in an Eagles Super Bowl LIX rally towel, were spared.

The explosion at New York Bagels “appears related to the commercial range,” PGW spokesperson Ariel Shore said in an emailed statement. “No injuries and no other service interruptions [were] reported.”

PGW responded to a request for support from the Philadelphia Fire Department at the store Sunday morning, Shore said. When crews arrived, she said, they “promptly” turned off service to the property. Shore referred further questions to the Philadelphia Fire Department, which is handling the investigation. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This isn’t the first time a gas explosion has damaged New York Bagels, which opened in 1964 and has served kosher Jewish communities in Overbrook Park and Lower Merion for at least 25 years.

The shop has been closed since March 3, when it was heavily damaged by a natural gas explosion. Kayyali previously told The Inquirer that he was working in the shop and was shielded by a shelf from the blast, which blew through the front windows and damaged the floor, walls, ceiling, counter, and equipment.

Kayyali was knocked unconscious during the March explosion. He had a minor concussion and burns to his hands. Still, he told The Inquirer Sunday morning that the more recent blast was “way worse” based on the level of damage.

“This time, if I was inside I had literally zero chance of survival,” Kayyali said while standing next to a pile of glass.

Kayyali spent the last two months renovating the 62-year-old bagel shop and adding safety features to the oven, which was manufactured in 2005 and installed by the previous owner.

» READ MORE: ‘Nothing seemed real’: Inside the first explosion that rocked New York Bagels

Kayyali said he sold his car to cover employees’ wages during the two-month-long closure. His landlord Jeff Goldstone estimated that he and Kayyali spent $200,000 on repairs from the first explosion.

“I’m sick to my stomach,” Goldstone said while surveying damage to the rest of the shopping center. The soon-to-open pharmacy next door was not damaged, but Goldstone was more concerned about inspecting the Citadel Credit Union to the left of New York Bagels. The bank’s grand opening was Saturday.

Goldstone’s family had owned the property since 1963. “Until March 3, I had never heard anything about the oven” or gas being an issue, he said.

Kayyali, 23, bought New York Bagels in 2024 from longtime owner Nick Sammoudi after his brother Fares had worked there for years. The recipes are largely the same, but Kayyali had big plans for the bagel institution, like working on a beverage program.

New York Bagels wasn’t due to open for another week, Kayyali said, but missing Mother’s Day wasn’t an option: “I had a sign prepared that said, ‘We can handle a gas explosion, but we can’t handle leaving mothers upset.’”

Mothers, daughters, and fathers were left verklempt Sunday morning as they chatted with Kayyali, who kept apologizing while handing out free tubs of cream cheese.

Sarah Sassler-Cohn, 27, drove from Baltimore to wait in line with her mother for dozens of sesame and cinnamon raisin bagels that she freezes to keep at home. Sassler-Cohn had worked at New York Bagels for six years throughout college and high school. She has yet to find a bagel that tastes as good.

“We’re devastated,” Sasshler-Cohn said. “I spent, like, 312 Sundays in there.”

Paul L. Newman, of Merion Station, felt similarly. When he pulled up to New York Bagels at 7:50 a.m. Sunday morning — 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled grand re-opening — he found the storefront blocked off with yellow tape and the front windows shattered. His usually baker’s dozen would have to wait.

“I feel horrible for these people,” Newman said. “Here are these guys who are immigrants, had a great business, and they’ve been struck not once, but twice, with tragedy.”

Kayyali, however, is seemingly undeterred. He plans to re-open the store, regardless of how long it takes.

“I’m not going to give up over these explosions,” said Kayyali. “But, gosh, death must have a crush on me.”

» READ MORE: From 2025: How a popular kosher bagel shop became the target of antisemitism allegations in Lower Merion

This is a developing story and will be updated.