Repairs underway after broken sewer line causes 20-foot-deep sinkhole in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Repairs are underway after a large sinkhole opened up in the middle of a street in Bay Ridge on Tuesday.
The sinkhole, which is about 25 feet wide and 20 feet deep, is located on Sixth Avenue between 68th and Senator streets.
The city's aging infrastructure is at least partially to blame, with city leaders confirming a sewer line broke in the morning, causing the sinkhole to happen.
Eyewitness News managed to get close to the sinkhole and saw a mixture of twisted metal, poles, wires and dirt down below.
The city had to shut off water to homes in the area, and soon they're going to have to shut off power too.
People who live on the avenue say the site has been worked on multiple times by multiple crews over the past few years.
"Truly it's very unsettling, especially when you live in this neighborhood knowing it can happen right outside your house," said Veroni Dionysiou, a Bay Ridge resident.
Other residents like John Friedrich say the sinkhole has been "months in the making."
"I drive this every day for work and it's just been getting patched over and patched over. There's multiple locations on Sixth Avenue where this is happening," Friedrich said.
There are more than 7,500 miles of sewer lines buried beneath the surface of New York City. When these lines break, they usually don't cause sinkholes to happen.
The city is hoping to have the water turned back on for impacted residents by the time they go to bed.
There is no word yet on how long it will take to fill in the sinkhole. Until that happens, the avenue will remain closed.
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