December 28, 2006
Manhole Explosions Rock SoHo
Manholes on West Houston Street near Sullivan have exploded, creating a smoky, chaotic scene. Windows are blown out and civilians are panicking. Firefighters, police, Con Ed and other rescue workers are everywhere.
Jake just went down to the scene-- it's total chaos. Houston is shutdown from Laguardia to 6th Avenue, traffic being diverted. Pedestrians are gawking behind fire lines on the corners of Thompson and Sullivan. A smokey fire is still raging in the manhole on Sullivan and Houston-- firefighters are lined up and waiting to put it out until Con Ed turns off the electricity. Smoke is rising five stories in the air, and a few helicopters are circling overhead. One of the ladies standing nearby said it sounded like a huge explosion-- she said she thought it was a terrorist attack. Electricity is out in the buildings along Sullivan Street-- as far south as The Room. Don't plan on getting Pepe Rosso tonight!
BNN is saying that one person was hurt by the shattered glass, and the windows at 47 Macdougal were damaged. 181 Sullivan and 146 West Houston were checked by firefighters and declared clear.
NYCJournal has a couple of more pictures from the scene:
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oh god, i was just walking home... i live on thompson just below houston.
i love how this happens, isn't the gothamist's offices on thompson as well... right next to my apartment as I remember.. they should be 1st on the scene here..!
society needs you to look
maybe some terrorist artists trying to reclaim the garish consumerist chi chi mall wasteland that is now soho
could you post more about the damage as you find out? I'm out of town & that is a block from my apartment. can't get in touch with my super. panicking a bit. thanks.
I have heard some media reports that phone service is down in the area as well.
NY1 is reporting phone outages downtown, including police hq. 9-1-1 is working. Verizon's claiming it is a software issue, so doesn't sound related to the explosion.
i hope nobody got hurt, but instead, lets rejoice for the quick response of coned... i guess somebody is getting to them.
what are you looking at?
Nothing on TV at this time...
Was quite crazy, I was there when it was a strangely colored fire before the manholes exploded. Got lots of pics, uploading now, will post the link once they are up!
nycj
I wonder if the power will be out for 8 days like it was in Queens when similar manhole explosions occurred. Somehow I doubt it...
For jj:
Not to worry, it looks like things have settled down. I live on Houston between Thompson & Sullivan and have an excellent view of the action. Lots of jumbo con-ed trucks, firemen and several fire trucks are still on the scene, but the smoke is gone and the electricity is back on. I did have my go-bag ready to evacuate, but it looks like the situation is well under control now.
with such an old underground infrastructure, should this be a surprise? hopefully, no one was hurt or killed.
i love new york
sweet t - thanks for the update.
lucky you had that go-bag, my gosh you were all ready, set, go there sailor scout!
It'll turn out that they were just filming additional scenes for Will Smith's movie. Watch.
I was walking on 6th Ave/Houston, and heard the large explosion. Alarms went off, and it was chaotic..people didn't know what to think. I went to my cafe (L'Angolo), on Thompson/Houston which is by where the explosion ocurred. This part of the village/Soho turned foggy with smoke..for many blocks. We were inside, the firemen told us not to go outside. He told us it was safer...then we heard the 2nd explosion. That was enough, and we headed uptown. It was traumatizing and scary for everyone that witnessed it, and I can't believe this story is being so lightly covered.
JM, dramatic much?
could we not jump to the terrorist conclusion? are terrorists trying to financially ruin via bus stop by blowing up a manhole nearby. bleck.
but yet, why isn't anyone talking about this on the news? would be interesting to find out what exactly happened, barring "terrorism". maybe a bum living underground is so wasted he already thinks its new years eve. YOU NEVER KNOW!
Aw, c'mon jammer, lighten up... JM didn't mention terrorism in his/her post.
It was impossible not to be frightened by the situation, there were explosions every few minutes and for a while there was thick stinky smoke that blacked out everything for 3 blocks along Houston. The lights in our building were browning out for about an hour and it would be accurate to describe the scene as chaotic. I never thought for a second that it was terrorism, but it did seem quite dangerous at the time.
and to RicktheCabbie - Good one! Made me giggle!
I was driving down MacDougal and just got to the traffic light at Houston when the cops decided it would be a good time to close the street. I got a pic on my cameraphone through my dirty windshield - mostly because I was amused at my luck (not the situation though, that was rough).
Here is the pic I used it to explain why I was late getting to a party right up the street.
I thought all the manholes moved to Chelsea?
This happened before just a few blocks away. I worked in a building at the corner of Broadway and Houston when a manhole exploded and flames shot half way up the back side of the 12 story building (at Mercer Street). Work crews arrived the following week in an attempt to clean away the smoke/fire damage with a pressure washer, but the evidence is still there.
I can definitely relate to those who were shaken by the explosions - the booming sound of the explosions along with the resulting smoke and fire can tend to be a little unnerving.
I really hope the person who suffered injuries from the shattered glass is doing alright.
see, I told you. A crazy bum underground...bum wires, that is.
Yeah this sucks. I walk that route every evening on my way home. I guess I missed all this mayhem by 5-10 minutes. With my luck, I would have been walking over the manhole as it exploded.
The ref. to terrorism was addressed to chattering above JM's comments. I guess, in this instance, the old adage "SHIT HAPPENS" seems apropos.
We never thought it was terrorism..as I am one of the people that feels that media uses it as a mechanism to scare people.
What I do know is that from around McDoughal/6th to W.Broadway/Greene and down to Prince, there was smoke. Unfortunately, I was 20 feet from where it happened, in L'Angolo cafe of Thompson and Houston. We stayed inside because we felt it was safe from the smoke, then it started to seep in. They checked for Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Not a good feeling. So I would say that I was not over-dramatic. It was very scary, and I am glad we all got out ok.
thanks for posting. i was working in a store on that corner at the time. we closed early, and i came how, turned on the news, checked online, etc. and couldn't find info about the blast anywhere...
thank god for gothamist.
now i actually know what happened