Disastrous flood underneath New York City as 127-year-old water main bursts
A 127-year-old water pipe burst underneath the streets of New York City at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, causing a flood of their underground train system.
The events caused a quick shutdown of train service along the affected routes while workers attempted to locate the burst water main and shut it off. What followed was a mess of train delays causing havoc during rush hour, during which NYC sees nearly 2.5 million commuters.
According to the MTA, the water main break in Times Square "sent approximately 1.8 million gallons of water rushing into the subway." Reports said that the burst happened on 7th Avenue, underneath the train station at 42nd, but water flowed all the way to 14th Street - almost 30 blocks through underground tunnels.
Water from a water main break cascading into New York's Times Square subway station, known as the busiest commuter spot in the Northeast (AP)A statement from the transit giant said: "Our crews quickly sprang into action, pumping water out of the system & inspecting infrastructure so we could restore service as soon as safely possible. We're deeply grateful to our teams for their rapid response, and our riders for your patience during the difficult morning commute. 1/2/3 trains have resumed making regular stops, and we expect to have trains back on schedule by the evening rush hour."
Seventh Avenue is shut down between 42nd and 39th streets, as is 40th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue as of the writing of this article.
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"While this intersection will probably remain closed for the rest of the day while we continue the excavation and complete the repair, it is limited to this one intersection at this point," Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said Tuesday morning.
Viral videos of 'waterfalls' at the 42nd St. Times Square station are gathering millions of viewers - and complaints from riders - on social media. And according to reports from major news outlets as well as the MTA itself, bursting water pipes are becoming a more consistent problem.
A New York Times report says that the calculated average of the pipes running through NYC's subway is about 66 years old. Many, like this one, are over 100 years old and they don't usually get replaced until there is a break or burst.
MTA employees are being hailed as 'unspoken heroes' while anger is directed at the company for failing to maintain the system full of old pipes (AP)One user Tweeted back at the MTA, quipping: "start again tomorrow .. its not even worth the nightmare today," along with a picture of Paulie from the Sopranos. Another chimed in with: "Great to know our tax dollars are being put into good use!"
One commuter got who stuck in the mess said: "I was on a southbound 1 train when it happened. I still don’t know why we were let out at 137 (with zero options). Another 1 came and took us to 96. I ran over to catch an A at 96… a hike. Not sure why the 1 couldn’t go to 72. There, trains could turn around." Lots of riders questioned the resumed service.
Most of the comments, while disparaging to the MTA, hailed the MTA workers as unsung heroes, as photos of them knee-deep in flood water trying to clean out the tracks are circulating through the social sphere.
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