"This would have not ended well for me if I was just hanging around here," said Joel.
It was one of several covers that blew along Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights late Sunday morning.
The park nearby was another problem spot, where a different cover had just blown.
Ana Duran says firefighters were evacuating everyone in the area. She says she was about to get inside her vehicle, when a friend, seeing all of the dark smoke, told her to get away from the car.
"She told me, 'Ana, Ana, don't go in the car' I said 'why? She said 'that's a lot of smoke.' Then when I turned my back, that's when my car exploded," Duran said.
Duran was not injured, but residents in the area had to leave for several hours due to an increase in Carbon Monoxide.
"I started to get dizzy and lightheaded in my house and when they came, they measured the levels in my basement, and they were pretty high," said Mark Bonnett.
It is not clear what caused the blown manhole covers. Many believe it could have been so much worse had more people been out and about.
"If it had not been for my customer, I would have died inside my car," added Duran.
ALSO READ | Report finds 50% of working-age New Yorkers don't earn enough to meet basic needs
Report: 50% of working-age New Yorkers struggling to cover basic needs
----------
* More Brooklyn news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.