Manhole Explosion On West 52nd Street

Firefighters and Con Ed are dealing with a third alarm manhole fire near 226 West 52nd Street. WCBS 2 reports, "It's believed a second transformer may have blown at 1697 Broadway, near the Ed Sullivan Theater. Flames could be seen shooting from the manhole and bits of the street were blown out from the blaze. Witnesses reported hearing a loud 'pops' from potential explosions in the manhole."

Some buildings were evacuated because extremely high levels of carbon monoxide were measured and Broadway between 50th and 54th were shut down. And a tipster writes, "Atoms for Peace, Thom Yorke's side project, is playing at Roseland tonight and the crowd of people that won't move" because they "have been waiting on line to get in since early this morning."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 6, 2010 5:25 PM

Comments [rss]

AnthonyLemons

Here is my home video of a manhole exploding in NYC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtlHv2tfQeA

AYCE

That's what happens when you let so many Chipotles open in the city.

AnthonyLemons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtlHv2tfQeA Exploding manhole.

ronshapley

Tell this to Jack Lemmon and Sandy Denis..... if you know what I mean !!

JacqueMehoff

I can't hear you. I'm deaf.

JacqueMehoff

add this to the list how one can get killed in this City.

"could have been hit by a manhole"

Jen S

Belated thanks for this article, as it made the Manhattan part of my commute less paranoid.

Jen S

I definitely un-checked!

Jen S

I'm only concerned about the falling-from-the-sky portion. But yes, still another thing to be terrified of.

Snoopy

Some of the newer manhole covers are slotted which I assume let out the gases formed so they don't blow the lid off when the big boom comes. Of course the slots allow more water to enter the manhole so who's to say if it is a better solution.

horseplay

Aawwww.. How sad

Love2HateNYC

Why are manhole covers circular? Thought it was so they cant fall into the hole, but its actually to get max distance when turned into a projectile.. frisbee style

LICer

I was working on the 16th floor on 50th, near Broadway, and definitely heard two booms several minutes apart. The first one caught my attention as it didn't sound like a flatbed hitting a pot hole. We also had an electrical surge on our floor right around the time of the first boom, which killed all our open sessions. Not sure if it's related.