Water Main Break Floods Court Street Subway Station In Brooklyn Heights

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A water main break flooded the Court Street subway station, and nearby streets above, in Brooklyn Heights on Thursday evening.

The water main broke at Montague and Clinton streets around 3:15 p.m.

Videos on social media show murky water flowing through the streets.

As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, crews brought in heavy machinery to make repairs hours after the 12-inch water main burst. The machinery clawed away at the asphalt on Montague Street in an effort to reach the source of the rupture.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers kept passengers out of the flooded subway station.

One man was seen on video moving his car out of the flood. The man, George Chamoun, owns a Monty Q's Pizzeria on the block.

"Actually, I thought my car was going to, like, go in the sinkhole," Chamoun said. "Because like, you hear about all these things -- sinkholes going on in the city all that. I'm like, 'Oh my God, this thing is going to happen here?'"

Chamoun said he had just gone outside to put money in the meter. He jumped into the driver's seat instead.

"I had to. I had to. I had to get it out," he said. "You know, I was going to go down with the car or get it out, so, but lucky it was all right."

The car was not damaged, but Chamoun's pizzeria was forced to close for the night when city crews cut off the water supply to make repairs.

A nearby Chinese restaurant also lost power and the basement filled with water. Owner Jerry Shen said it came in fast.

"It's like a river, yes, a lot of water," he said.

Kate Chura of the Montague Business Improvement District said the street buckled and the flood began immediately.

"At first I just heard a lot of commotion and I came out, and there was literally like a small river running down the street," she told 1010 WINS' Al Jones.

She said more than 30 businesses were affected, losing out on what would have been a busy Thursday night.

"This is a very locally-owned, small business section of Brooklyn, and small businesses rely on their doors being open," Chura said.

"Hopefully, we'll be open for tomorrow for business," Chamoun said.

As of 9 p.m., crews continued to repair the water main. Business owners said they were told water service should be restored overnight, but no specific time was available.

"Crews shut off the 12-inch water main running under Montague Street. That stopped the leak. Water's draining into catch basins now," Ted Timbers of DEP told WCBS 880's Myles Miller earlier in the evening.

As crews worked to repair the damage done by the break, the R train ran along the Q line from Canal Street to DeKalb Avenue in both directions.

The subway remained closed in the area as of 9 p.m., and the MTA said it had to make sure the infrastructure was sound before the Court Street station can reopen.