Authorities now confirm seven deaths:  44 year old Griselde Camacho, who worked as a police officer at Hunter College, 67 year old Carmen Tanco (female), who worked as a dental assistant and had lived in the same building for 40 years and Rosaura Hernandez-Barrios, age 21. The bodies of four other victims discovered overnight have not been named.  Over 70 people are injured, several with life-threatening injuries, including a 14 year old boy.  Five other known occupants of the buildings remain unaccounted for.

The Spanish Christian Church owns a six-storey apartment building in 1644-1646 Park Avenue in East Harlem. Carmen Vargas-Rosa, who owns the church, said there was a gas smell at the church on Tuesday night, adding that four of her tenants were unaccounted for.

The investigation into the blast has officially started, with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which has oversight on gas transportation pipelines will attempt to determine the cause of the blast and review ConEd’s procedures. More details to follow.
h/t Treeper ctdar:
Area residents had complained of smelling gas for weeks on the block where two buildings were leveled this morning in a violent explosion.  One building is reported as a piano store with apartments above; the second building was a church.  As emergency crews sift through the rubble, it is feared the death and injured count may climb, as many people suspected of being in the buildings at the time of the explosion remain unaccounted for.

The explosions took place on a block of Park Avenue near 116th Street in Harlem, just north of the upscale Carnegie Hill neighborhood of the Upper East Side of Manhattan.  It is an area that has been experiencing “gentrification pressures” to the chagrin of many long time local residents.
Mayor deBlasio states foul play is not suspected and that the White House has been briefed.
Latest statistics released by the FDNY as of 1:30 pm EDT: