The FDNY and Buildings Department officials are currently inspecting buildings by the intersection of 72nd Street and Second Avenue, where a planned explosion for the Second Avenue subway project was a bit too powerful. Officials say no injuries have been reported so far, but the blast did cause damage to sidewalks and buildings. One bystander says, "I almost got cracked by like a 50 lb boulder."
An MTA spokesman confirmed that the explosion, which happened around 12:45 p.m., was related to the Second Avenue subway.
MTA just literally blew up the ground messing with the new 2nd Ave line! Concrete flew everywhere!
— Ms. Cobb, MHA (@IndependentEQ) August 21, 2012
Huge explosion right in front of me in nyc UES just now looks like errant blasting from 2nd ave subway. Miraculously no injuries it appears
— Scott Gottlieb (@ScottGottliebMD) August 21, 2012
@street_soldiers construction explosion 2nd Ave subway sends debris flying into windows...no reported injuries#myfoxny twitter.com/LISAEVERS/stat…— LISA EVERS (@LISAEVERS) August 21, 2012
We'll update as more information becomes available. In the meantime, check out what these blasts look from the other side.