NYC building collapses after blast, fire

By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago

NEW YORK - A three-story building housing a doctor's office just off Madison Avenue collapsed and burned Monday after what witnesses said was a thunderous explosion that rocked the neighborhood.
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The cause was not immediately known, though White House press secretary Tony Snow said there was no indication of terrorism.

At least two people were under evaluation at a hospital after the collapse. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was still trapped inside the building, on 62nd street between Madison and Park Avenues on Manhattan's East Side.

Heavy black smoke rose high above the building, wedged between taller structures on 62nd Street between Park and Madison Avenues just a few blocks from Central Park. Damage, including shattered windows, could be seen at one of the adjoining buildings.

Yaakov Kermaier, 36, a resident in a building next door, said he was outside when he heard "a deafening boom. I saw the whole building explode in front of me."

"Everybody started running, nobody knew what was coming next," he said. His nanny and newborn escaped from their next-door apartment unharmed.

Thad Milonas, 57, was operating a coffee cart across from the building when he said the ground shook and the building came down, said he helped two bleeding women from the scene.

Streets around the area were closed off to traffic as ambulances and rescue units raced to the area just before 9 a.m.

TV host Larry King, who had been in a hotel room nearby, described the explosion to CNN as sounding like a bomb and feeling like an earthquake.

"I've never heard a sound like that," King said.

Couple with 10 children plan 'sham divorce' to gain bigger council house
by COLIN FERNANDEZ, Daily Mail

A couple with 10 children who receive nearly £28,000 a year in benefits are set to divorce so they can get a second free house from the state.

Robert Bentley, 47, lives with his second wife Nichola, 27, in a three-bedroom semi-detached home in a smart suburb of Bristol, paid for by the taxpayer.

But as the council has so far refused to pay for a bigger house for his enormous family, he believes the only option is to undergo a sham divorce so that they will be re-housed.

Now the couple have complained that their three-bedroom housing association property in Bradley Stoke, Bristol, is too small. They have begged South Gloucestershire Council for a larger house - and are to split up to get re-housed.

Mr Bentley, who hasn't worked since 2003, said: 'I don't think it's too much to ask. This house is just too small for all of us and the children are always arguing. 'I've got depression and it's too much to cope with. Myself and Nichola are now getting a divorce because we can't manage. 'I've been told the only way to get moved to the top of the list is if I declare myself homeless.'

Mr Bentley, a widower, has eight children from his first marriage - Sarah, 23, Jodie and Rebecca, 19, Nicholas, 17, Ross, 15, David, 12, Cassandra, 10, and Maddison, five. He married his new wife Nichola, 29 , in November 2005 and moved into her home with his five youngest children and her two daughters, Charlotte, six, and Katie, three.

She then had twins - Jessika and Chloe, now eight weeks old - and his daughter Rebecca has recently had a baby girl, Tamsin.

Their home in Bradley Stoke has two estate cars in the drive.

In their living room they have a wide screen TV, dvd player and video, freeview box and a £280 X-box game console. The couple's wedding in 2005 was partly funded by a £600 loan from the Benefit Agency.

Mr Bentley said: ''We all moved in and at first it was ok. Myself and Nichola had a bedroom, the two lads shared a bedroom and the five girls shared a room. 'But then it got worse and worse. The lads rowed - one of the doors is still off the hinges from when they were fighting each other. 'It just became unbearable. I couldn't cope because of my depression. 'Then Nichola had twins and my daughter Rebecca had a baby girl so the house got even busier.' After deciding to divorce unemployed Nichola, he contacted London-based Warden Housing Association - which runs properties in the area - for a new home. But he has been told by them that the council decides who gets the houses - and he is not top of the list. 'It's just terrible,' he said. 'I'm sleeping on the sofa, the kid's are cramped. I just want a new house so I can get on with life and maybe get a job. 'The council have offered me and the kids accommodation in a bed and breakfast but my psychiatrist thinks I might harm myself if I live there. 'And I've been told I'll only get a house if I declare myself homeless.' So Mr Bentley said he was hoping to move out along with his five children into a nearby house, while his wife remained where she was with the twins and her daughters.

'We'd be living on two sites, but I can't see another option.'

Yesterday (Thurs) a spokeswoman for South Gloucestershire Council - in charge of the Bradley Stoke area - said: 'Mr Bentley is on the housing register. 'However, there is a shortage of five-bed properties in the district and we have advised him that it may be some time before his request is met. 'We have been working with him on other suggested options including presenting himself and his children as homeless and renting privately.''