Major Squeegee Job

From the conference room at work, we have a good vantage point of the site of the steam explosion at midtown last Wednesday, 18 July. The expanse of the damage was isolated to a few buildings within close perimeter of the blast site. The other effects that it had caused, mud splattered windows and the extent of the initial frozen zone that limited vehicular and pedestrian traffic was wider. The day after the accident Park Ave to Third Avenue and from 34th Street to 47th was impassable to all kinds of vehicles. 42nd Street was crowded with emergency and support vehicles (see previous post).

On Saturday, 3 days after the accident, the tow truck was finally removed from the site. The city reported that they would open most roads back to normal operations with the exception of 41st and Lexington Avenue where they will continue to repair and test the utilities that were affected. Hopefully, they can prevent another such accident from happening.

The video shows how thick the mud had covered the windows on the building immediately next to the blast and how windows on the lower floors were shattered. On the background, the tall dark building demonstrates the height the dirt has flown. On Friday, window cleaning crews were already at work.

Tests done by the government state that no asbestos were airborne post-accident and that most of traces of the material was found on the desbris on the ground. My architect friend notes that old steam pipes (before 1987) were usually wrapped in abestos for insulation. The pipeline that gave way was laid in the 1920's. Go figure.

I'm not whining or contemplating packing up to move to Timbuktu. I have accepted that part of living in Manhattan involves some risks, different from that I would have encountered in other parts of the world but risks just as well - just some quite unique to this city (refer to previous post again).

Inspite and despite of it all, I LOVE NEW YORK!