Repairs Underway After Water Main Break In Queens Floods, Damages Street
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Water has been restored but roadway repairs are still underway in Queens after a water main broke overnight.
The Department of Environmental Protection said the 12-inch main burst around 1 a.m. Thursday at 60th Avenue and 99th Street, sending water gushing into the street, seeping into garages and parked cars and breaking up the asphalt.
Officials said the water service was restored to all customers as of 4:45 p.m.
A thick layer of mud covered the floor of Manny Osario's taxi.
"I just came out to see this," he told CBS2's Magdalena Doris. "What can you do? Gotta go out and do the job."
Others weren't as lucky. Tow trucks hauled away the vehicles parked closest to the center of the break.
The flooding didn't only affect things on the street level. The evidence of its strength could be seen in a boiler room of a building where a large water tank was lifted off of the brackets by the rushing water and mud.
The mud line on the basement wall was mirrored on the boiler which flooded. The Sherwood Village apartment complex was without hot water and heat.
"Sixty-seven families live in this house. We have a little kids and seniors so we got to get this boiler running a soon as possible today," said Superintendent Angel Roman.
While the DEP can't say what caused the break, Council member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland says there is something to be grateful about amid the mess.
"The weather is on our side for repair," she said. "This could have been frozen water that we're dealing with."
