Manhole explosions in Brooklyn Heights toast cars, worry residents

Dozens of power outages during MLK Jr. weekend

January 21, 2025 Mary Frost

A Brooklyn Heights manhole onWillow Street smokes and puffs flames. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A weekend-long series of manhole explosions on Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights was finally resolved early Monday morning — after at least two cars had their undersides toasted and 14 neighbors spent part of the freezing weekend without power.

It was just one episode out of dozens of power outages across Brooklyn and Queens reported by Con Edison over the snowy Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. On Sunday, the utility’s power outage map showed about 75 Brooklyn outages, with many of them affecting multiple residences.

Residents said this was not the first time the grate covering Con Edison’s electrical equipment on Willow between Orange and Pineapple streets had smoked and popped, but this was the worst time.

A neighbor captured this image of a manhole exploding under a car on Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights Sunday morning. Photo courtesy of a Willow Street resident

“It’s been going on for at least a year,” Kathleen Wolf, who lives in a Willow Street brownstone next to the grate, told the Brooklyn Eagle on Sunday. “Yesterday it went wild again. Smoking, popping. …Folks in homes on Orange Street and in the apartment building that used to be the Watchtower headquarters came out because their homes shook and lights flickered.

“It’s disconcerting at best and frightening at worst,” she added. “The Remsen Street explosion was eye-opening for many.”

Wolf was referring to the Thanksgiving Day, two-alarm fire at 76 Remsen St., a pre-war co-op in Brooklyn Heights, which caused extensive damage to a fourth-floor apartment and led to the evacuation of two buildings. The fire had been triggered by an exploding manhole which set a car on fire and then extended to the building.

Firefighters checked several buildings on Willow Street in north Brooklyn Heights for carbon monoxide Saturday night. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Scofflaw drivers pay the price for removing caution tape

Heights resident Beverly Closs was the first to contact the Eagle after seeing an urgent message posted on a Facebook group late Saturday afternoon. The message said that a black Honda CR-V parked on Willow Street needed to be moved asap. “There’s been firefighters there for the last 30 minutes as the grates underneath the car started smoking!” the post said.

After the CR-V was removed, the Fire Department of New York blocked off the grate and the sidewalk next to it with yellow caution tape and orange traffic cones.

When the Eagle visited the site Saturday at 8 p.m., however, another driver had moved the caution tape and cones onto the sidewalk and parked on top of the grate. This reporter warned the driver that the manhole might explode, and they reluctantly moved their car and replaced the caution tape.

This vehicle was one of several whose owners removed the caution tape and cones the Fire Department had used to block off the smoking grate. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Wolf said the manhole “began acting up again” Saturday night. FDNY said it received a report at 9:49 p.m. An ambulance was stationed at the intersection of Orange and Willow streets, and fire fighters went into basements checking for carbon monoxide.

At 11:15 p.m. Saturday, from several blocks away in Brooklyn Heights, this reporter heard a loud boom. Wolf confirmed it was the Willow Street manhole. National Grid arrived to check the gas line around 11:30 p.m., she said. Con Edison turned off the power to 14 customers, according to a company spokesperson.

By Sunday morning, another car owner had removed the caution tape and cones and parked on top of the grate — and paid the price. A resident of 67 Willow St., who did not wish to be named, provided the Eagle with a video of the grate emitting bursts of fire and smoke under the car.

A neighbor captured this image of a manhole exploding on Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Photo courtesy of a Willow Street resident

“I took the video because I heard some gurgling from the manhole and anticipated another explosion because one also happened last night!” the resident said. FDNY did not know how much damage, if any, the car sustained.

“When the Fire Department came they called NYPD because the new car did not abide by the law,” Wolf said. New York City’s police department did not issue a ticket to the scofflaw, she added.

At 4:30 a.m. Monday, Con Edison crew arrived to repair the smoking grate on Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Wolf.

At roughly 4:30 a.m. Monday, a Con Edison crew was on site, and the power was turned back on around 9:15 a.m. “Our power is back, yay!” Wolf texted the Eagle.

Con Edison said salt and snow were behind the high number of outages.

An ambulance was stationed at the intersection of Orange and Willow streets as firefighters checked basements for carbon monoxide. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

“Con Edison crews are responding as quickly and safely as possible to power outages caused by the winter storm as a result of salt and melting snow entering our underground infrastructure and impacting the electric delivery equipment,” a Con Ed spokesperson told the Eagle.

He added, “Con Edison prepares in advance for weather events and makes robust infrastructure investments to provide the most reliable electric service in the nation. We will continue to mobilize our response team as needed to support our customers.”