Streets reopen after manhole explosions in Midtown Manhattan

MIDTOWN (WABC) -- Con Edison says explosions blew the covers of two manholes in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning.

It happened at Eighth Avenue and 35th Street, with one of the manholes belonging to Verizon and the other a Cablevision service box.

Witnesses say they heard the two loud back to back explosions, and the force of the blasts made nearby buildings along the street shake.

Eighth Avenue was closed between West 34th and West 35th Street for Con Edison to investigate and has since reopened.

No buildings were evacuated.

The MTA says the incident did not have an impact on subway service.

There were also multiple manhole fires at 38th Street and 8th Avenue. Firefighters quickly put out those blazes, and no one was hurt.

Witnesses said it was a close call. "People were running," said Steve Czarnacki. "When the second manhole exploded there was a man just about to walk there, and when it exploded he ran back in the other direction and people started running everywhere."

"The whole building shook, and at first we didn't know if it was the air conditioning turning on or something but it was a little more extreme apparently," said another witness.