127-year-old water main gives way under NYC’s Times Square, flooding streets, subways
NEW YORK (AP) — A 127-year-old water main under New York’s Times Square gave way early Tuesday, flooding midtown streets and the city’s busiest subway station.
The 20-inch (half-meter) water main gave way under 40th Street and Seventh Avenue at 3 a.m., said Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner of New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection.
The rushing water was only a few inches deep on the street, but videos posted on social media showed the flood cascading into the Times Square subway station down stairwells and through ventilation grates. The water turned the trenches that carry the subway tracks into mini rivers and soaked train platforms.
It took DEP crews about an hour to find the source of the leak and shut the water off, Aggarwala said.
The excavation left a big hole at the intersection of 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, where workers were digging with heavy equipment to get to the broken section of pipe.
While that intersection remained closed to car traffic, surrounding streets were open by rush hour.
Subway service, however, was suspended through much of Manhattan on the 1, 2 and 3 lines, which run directly under the broken pipe.
Aggarwala said it appeared that only two local businesses were left without water at the start of the work day.
Related News
From Archive
- U.S. water reuse boom to fuel $47 billion in infrastructure spending through 2035
- Major water pipe break in Puerto Rico hits over 165,000 customers
- Potomac River Tunnel project enters construction phase beneath Washington, D.C.
- U.S. Army Corps approves Enbridge's $500 million Line 5 Tunnel project
- Mexico accelerates $6.7 billion water infrastructure plan amid U.S. water disputes
- Glenfarne Alaska LNG targets late-2026 construction start for 807-mile pipeline project
- Pennsylvania American Water launches interactive map to identify, replace lead water service lines
- Trump's tariffs drive $33 million cost increase for Cincinnati sewer project
- CASE Launches New Equipment Configurator At CaseCE.com
- Utah city launches historic $70 million tunnel project using box jacking under active rail line
Comments