Subway service was restored shortly after noon on the A, C and D lines from 125th to 59th Street after those lines were forced to shut down early Sunday following a water main break at 102nd Street and Central Park West. The water main busted at 7:15 a.m. and the water rushed into the subway, forcing the MTA to shut down the lines around 9 a.m.
The Department of Environmental Protection shut down the water around 9 a.m. and the surrounding streets were blocked off.
Update: As of about 2 p.m., water was restored for the nearby buildings.
In a statement, the MTA, which is controlled by the governor, placed blamed on the city for the shutdowns on Sunday and the prior Monday.
“This is the second time this week that a major city water main break flooded our system, requiring a partial service suspension and inconveniencing our customers for too lengthy a period. We hope this latest incident will spur quicker shut-off response times by the city and a review of its aging system in hopes of avoiding similar situations moving forward.”
Councilman Mark Levine also wrote on Twitter that city needs to begin addressing these infrastructure issues.
Two massive water main breaks in this city in the same week is not a freak accident. It is the predictable result of neglect of infrastructure. https://t.co/789FgCoYxl
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) January 19, 2020
A DEP spokesman, however, noted that the city’s water mains actually break less than in other areas on at least one metric.
In NYC there are 6.5 water main breaks for every 100 miles of water main. National average is 25 breaks for every 100 miles. @NYCWater invests about $400M annually to build new mains – that’s about a mile of new main every week of the year. @westsiderag
— Ted Timbers (@TedTimbers) January 19, 2020
The blame game isn’t going to fix NYC’s ancient infrastructure.
Kettle, meet pot…
The water main burst.
Not busted.
Please stop using the word “busted” to describe breaks or bursts in water mains. Bust is not a real verb (though it is a real noun)
Depending on your definition of ‘real’ I suppose. But if it’s good enough (as a verb) for merriam-webster and oxford dictionaries, it’s good enough for me.
Speaking of word use, I love the word #chide”. It’s so mild & old-fashioned.
When the MTA blames the City for a failure to maintain its a laugh riot! Look who is talking.
Having said that, I’ve been complaining for some time here and elsewhere about the failure of the Mayor, his administration and the City Council to take their responsibilities regarding local city issues including maintenance of infrastructure seriously. They are all happy to engage on the national level about voting, immigration and the rest but basic city services, forget about it. Too boring, not enough PR punch. It’s a failure to elect people who actually care about the city instead of their narrow constituencies and their political careers.