'Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink'

Firefighters look on as emergency workers race to restore water service at the intersection of Broadway and W. 231st St. after a water main broke on Sunday. The precious resource flooded shops and garages and the drop in pressure left much of the community high and dry until well into the night. Photo by Karsten Moran

Gushing main leaves K’bridge and Riverdale high and dry

By Kevin Deutsch

A torrent of muck, rock and millions of gallons water flooded down Broadway at 231st Street when the area’s primary water main burst open Sunday morning.

Some people in Riverdale and Kingsbridge were without water for two days. Up the hill, Starbucks wasn’t making coffee on Johnson Avenue. Brown water came out of taps, and water pressure slowed to a trickle.

Those inconveniences quickly passed, and while the physical damage at Kingsbridge’s busiest intersection was extensive — a shattered, caved-in section of road, flooded store basements, and water-logged vehicles — it will likely be repaired long before the economic damage can be overcome.

Stores under the el lost thousands of dollars in sales, suffered water damage that will cost them thousands more, and saw stockpiles of inventory ruined by what many likened to the flash flooding seen after a natural disaster.

When the water main broke open at about 3:30 a.m., water rocketed up through the pavement like a geyser, speeding down Broadway and rushing into the basements of dozens of area businesses. Store owners opened their doors that morning to find boxes upon boxes of soggy, ruined merchandise. The collective losses of business affected could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, store owners said.

“It’s a disaster,” said Cheick Conde, owner of Masidi’s Urban African Store on Broadway, who lost about $30,000 worth of costly wooden masks, furniture, and handmade goods imported from Africa. “It could put me out of business.”

Mr. Conde, like many business owners in the area, was suffering financially even before the water main break. For years business has been slow in what’s known as the Kingsbridge Business Improvement District.

The district had begun efforts to forestall a further downturn, undertaking a beautification project to stave off closings and organizing a plant and tree grooming project. But the flooding set loose Sunday could cancel out gains made by those efforts, store owners said.

“This event is terrible for all of us,” said Reynold Mohammed, whose family owns a 99-cent store on Broadway. “We’ll be struggling in this area for a long time.”

Jackie’s Kids, a school uniform and clothing store on Broadway, suffered massive losses, said its owner, who did not want his name used.

“It’s pretty bad,” he said. “It almost knocked us out. I’ve got t-shirts by the thousands downstairs [that were ruined].”

Perhaps the business hit hardest by the flooding was Riverdale Parking Garage, which had up to 12 feet of water on its lower level, according to the fire department.

“It took a long time to shut down the water. That was the main problem for us,” said Jamil Misbach, the garage’s general manager. There were about 15 cars on the lower level that may be ruined, costly classic cars among them, he said.

As many as 18 vehicles in the outdoor area of the garage were also flooded.

“We couldn’t save all of them,” he said. “A lot of property is ruined.”

Affected businesses were visited by officials from the city’s Department of Small Business Services, who handed out claim forms. But store owners worry the city bureaucracy will move too slowly, and that businesses will have to close down before ever seeing a penny.

“I think they should pay up right away,” said Mr. Mohammed, whose basement full of merchandise was flooded. “We can’t wait.”

Area restaurants, delis and coffee shops also lost plenty of business Sunday because of low water pressure caused by the break. Thousands of residences and stores reported having little or no water.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people living above the fifth floor in area high-rises were left without water. Some were still without service late Monday as the city’s Department of Environmental Protection repaired the broken water main.

“It’s kind of a nightmare,” said Joseph Makarski, who had no water at his residence in Skyview-on-the-Hudson. “You take water for granted until you don’t have it.”

When the 20-inch main burst, Broadway was dark, quiet and mostly empty. But as massive slabs of concrete cracked and shifted above the pressure of spouting water, thousands of pounds of mud, sediment and even fossilized oyster shells escaped from underground, launching themselves into the path of shocked pedestrians and drivers.

Firefighters arrived within minutes, slogging through coursing water up to their thighs as they searched in and around the 35-foot wide, 10-foot-deep hole opened by the burst main. No one was hurt.

It took about an hour to find the right valve to stem the flow of water from underground, the fire department said. City workers used powerful pumps to suck water out of the streets, and shovels to clear blocks worth of mud from sidewalks. Lifts were used to clear piles of concrete from the busted street, while cars trapped in muck up to their fenders were towed out.

By Tuesday afternoon, much of the hole appeared to have been filled. The DEP estimated it would be fully repaired in one or two days. Broadway was open to traffic in the area, but West 231st Street at Broadway remained closed, causing minor disruptions in bus service.

The water main was constructed in 1965. The break may have been caused, in part, by 44 years of vibrations caused by both cars and the elevated No. 1 trains, said Acting DEP Commissioner Steven Lawitts.

“The force of the water was very powerful,” said Mr. Lawitts.

Firefighter Laurie Galioto, who’s seen plenty of water main breaks over his 12 year career, said “This is the biggest one I’ve ever seen. It’s massive.”

This is part of the June 18, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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