127-year-old water main gives way under NYC’s Times Square, flooding streets, subways
A 127-year-old water main under New York’s Times Square gave way early Tuesday, flooding midtown streets and the city’s busiest subway station.
The 20-inch (half-meter) water main gave way under 40th Street and Seventh Avenue at 3 a.m., said Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner of New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection.
The rushing water was only a few inches deep on the street, but videos posted on social media showed the flood cascading into the Times Square subway station down stairwells and through ventilation grates. The water turned the trenches that carry the subway tracks into mini rivers and soaked train platforms.