Mild temperatures bring water main breaks, falling ice in NYC
LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A mild stretch of temperatures means that a lot of ice and snow is melting, and while the warm-up is a treat, it's also increasing concerns for water main breaks and falling ice.
The water is gone now on the Lower East Side, but a massive hole remains at South Street and Rutgers Slip as crews pumped the water out and began to make repairs.
The moments right after the water main break Tuesday afternoon were captured as Newscopter 7 flew over the area, which looked more like canals than streets.
Water was shut off to about 200 households in the area.
Another main broke overnight, this time on the Upper West Side.
The 2 a.m. incident left West End Avenue closed between West 66th and West 70th streets for the morning. Water service has been restored to a 480-unit apartment building in the area.
It's all the result of frozen pipes thawing, and weather isn't just creating hazards from underneath, but also from above.
A car was crushed by falling ice in SoHo Tuesday.
The chunk of ice fell from more than 20 stories up on Charlton Street, landing squarely on Coltrane Nadler's parked car.
The 18-year-old was walking around the corner at the time and was not hurt.
"Mine was the only one that got hit," Nadler said. "I was lucky and unlucky at the same time, depending on how you see it. It was very ironic. I couldn't help but see how funny it was."
The Department of Buildings issued a violation to the building owner, who has since had the ice from the roof removed.
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