Reopening of New York Bagels
Rabbi Yonah Gross has noticed a significant change in his refrigerator over the past two months; his cream cheese is lasting considerably longer.
This is due to the absence of bagels from New York Bagels, a kosher bakery that has served its community since 1964. Located on Haverford Avenue near City Avenue in Overbrook Park, the bakery has been closed since March 3, when a gas explosion caused substantial damage.
Excitingly, the bakery is set to reopen its doors at 8 a.m. on Sunday.
“We’ve never missed Mother’s Day at this shop,” shared owner Rayyan Kayyali. “Mothers are a blessing.”
While overseeing renovations on Wednesday, Kayyali expressed gratitude for his blessings. “I’m here because of God,” he remarked, gesturing toward the ceiling with one panel still out of place.
On the morning of the explosion, he had arrived at 5:30 a.m. due to a large order of smoked fish for Purim. He needed to prepare it before his baker arrived for the morning bagel shift.
However, something was amiss; the oven was cold.
Gross undertakes the responsibility of starting the oven early as part of his duties for the Community Kashrus of Greater Philadelphia, ensuring that the bread meets the kosher standard known as pas Yisroel, which indicates that a Jewish person has been involved in the preparation. Since Kayyali is Muslim, Gross ensures this tradition is upheld.
Confused, Kayyali crouched to manually reset the oven instead of using the wall switch. When he pressed the button, the igniter sparked and ignited a powerful explosion.
“Everything just exploded,” Kayyali reflected.
He later learned that gas had been leaking for almost an hour and was mostly shielded from the blast by a shelf in front of the oven. His instinct to duck is what he believes saved his life.
He woke up on the floor, initially thinking he had only lost consciousness for a brief moment. Surveillance footage revealed he had been unconscious for nearly five minutes.
Kayyali stumbled outside into the frigid 25-degree morning and collapsed in front of the store. “When I woke up, it seemed unreal,” he said. “I was wondering why the shop was open; there used to be glass here. Nothing felt real.”
The explosion had shattered the front windows, and inside, everything from the floor to the ceiling was destroyed.
Kayyali received treatment for a minor concussion at a local hospital. His hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, and sections of his hands suffered burns. He was grateful for the swift response from the police and fire departments, along with Philadelphia Gas Works.
The timing was particularly eerie—as luck would have it, a construction company was scheduled that very day to discuss renovating the bakery during Passover when it would be temporarily closed. Kayyali had inquired if the entire shop could be refurbished, but was told it would take too long.
“The same day, the entire shop exploded,” he noted. “Now we’re replacing everything.”
Notably, the oven survived the incident. Installed several years prior by the previous owner, it has been in use since 2005.
A technician later informed Kayyali that clogged seeds might have obstructed the igniter’s functionality. “He mentioned a similar incident occurred at another bakery a few months ago, but there’s supposed to be a safety feature that shuts off the gas if the igniter fails to spark. That didn’t happen this time,” Kayyali explained.
“Nothing seems to make sense,” the technician remarked.
“To clarify, we didn’t modify the system or create anything unusual,” Gross said of the oven’s timer. “These timer settings are factory standard.”
In response to the explosion, the bakery has now added safety features to the oven and plans to implement additional safeguards for the gas-controlled kettle.
Kayyali took over the bakery in 2024 after his brother, Fares, who had worked there for the previous owner, Nick Sammoudi. When Sammoudi announced he was retiring, Kayyali, a native of Florida who was living in California and working for AAA, seized the opportunity.
“I worked here for almost a year, learned everything, and meticulously documented all the recipes,” Kayyali mentioned. “It was our golden opportunity.”
The menu will largely remain intact, featuring favorites like tuna salad. Kayyali plans to eventually reintroduce rye bread, add bagel chips, and is working on introducing coffee options. A slight price increase is expected, with bagels set at $1.99, though dozens will still be $20 at reopening.
A Brief History of Bagels in Philadelphia
Kayyali inherited more than just an oven and recipes; he now carries the legacy of over 60 years of bagel-making that began with two New Yorkers who believed Philadelphia deserved authentic bagels.
In 1964, Pennsylvania business records show brothers Jack and Irv Tillman signed a lease in the “new shopping center” on Haverford Avenue, facilitated by the Overbrook Park brokerage, Herbert Yentis Co., which continues to operate today.
That same month, Inquirer reporter Henry Neiger visited 7555 Haverford Ave. to discover the buzz and found the Tillman brothers, who were fifth-generation bagel bakers from New York.
At the time, Philadelphia was far from lacking in bagel options. The city’s robust Jewish community supported numerous bakeries primarily producing breads like pumpernickel and rye. While many famous names like Bogoslafsky’s and Rosen’s have faded, Kaplan’s New Model still exists after 107 years.
However, the Tillmans were convinced that Philadelphians deserved better quality bagels than what was available at the time.
“We heard that water bagels were not available in Philadelphia and decided to take action,” Erv Tillman told Neiger. “We are sure that Philadelphians will soon develop a taste for bagels just as strong as New Yorkers.”
The Tillmans were enthusiastic, even boasting, “In New York, there are 250 bagel bakers. We’re the only ones in Philadelphia making real bagels.”
The bagels rapidly gained popularity, passing the New Yorker test. Neiger quoted a satisfied customer who had come in search of an authentic water bagel.
“They are divine, absolutely divine,” she exclaimed. “I feel like I’m back in New York City again.”
Gross noted that it’s unclear when New York Bagels began operating under rabbinical supervision, a significant factor for many observant residents in Overbrook Park and Lower Merion.
“This might be the longest-running place we’ve partnered with,” Gross noted about Keystone-K, which was established in the early 2000s, where local rabbis certify bakeries within their communities.
The Tillmans’ ownership was short-lived. By June 1965, they sold the bakery to another New York bagel baker, Melvyn Leibowitz, who used a recipe passed down from his Romanian great-grandfather. After Leibowitz passed away in 1983, his wife, Doris, took over until she sold it in 1988 to an investment group.
Ultimately, the bakery was acquired by Sammoudi, who ran it for 25 years before selling it to Kayyali in 2024.
Part of this storied tradition continues just 20 minutes away in Broomall where Mike Leibowitz and his wife Christine opened Original Bagel in 1995, still baking from his father’s cherished recipes.
