Water main break that floods New York streets, subways
NEW YORK -- Water has been restored to one Greenwich Village neighborhood after a water main break that flooded the area, including nearby subway lines in New York City.
Officials report that water is being restored to those who spent the night without.
"You wake up in the middle of the night and you completely forget that you can't flush your toilet or wash your hands," said area resident Louie Lapore.
His apartment building and a number of businesses had the water shut off around 8 p.m. after the 12-inch main broke Wednesday night under 175 W. 13th St. on Seventh Avenue about an hour earlier.
In the nearby 14th Street subway station, water cascaded onto the tracks bringing the 1, 2 and 3 lines to a halt for most of the night. The water at one point, riders say, was up to the platform.
"I came up through the subway last night (and) it was like torrential, like a waterfall down there so there was no doubt they were going to turn this off," said Tim Wilks, an area resident.
About 500 people had to be removed from a subway train underground, but service on the lines was running again by 5 a.m. Thursday.
Early in the morning, workers began digging a large hole around the site of the break and eventually pulled three large pieces of pipe that had cracked open. No word on what might have caused the break.
While it was being repaired residents had to find other ways of getting ready for work.
"I went to the gym for the shower," said Ed Adishr, area resident. "My wife is going to do the same thing. She's packing up to head to the gym to shower."
