A water main broke during the early hours Tuesday morning in Times Square, sending cascading floodwater into the streets and subways—causing major delays for commuters during the morning rush hour.
The nearly 130-year-old water main under Seventh Avenue broke at around 3 a.m., according to the city’s Environmental Protection commissioner Rohit Aggarwala. The cause has not been pinpointed, but workers are still attempting to contain the damage, which has extended to the streets around Times Square and the major subway hub below ground.
The 1, 2, and 3 subway lines were particularly impacted as water burst onto the tracks; NYC Transit president Richard Davey said that not only had water found its way into the Times Square station, but it had flowed downstream to other stations, going as far south as 14th Street.
As such, 1 and 3 train service was suspended entirely between Chambers and 96th streets in Manhattan and is expected to remain so through the morning, while 2 train service was rerouted to the 5 line.
“The cleanup is going to take us some time,” Davey said a little before 7 a.m. “So I’d be advising our customers to be checking our website, looking at signage. But the 1, 2, and 3 is to be avoided…so if there alternatives you can take, you should take them.”
Service was fully restored on the 1, 2, and 3 lines by 11 a.m., Davey said later Tuesday morning, after MTA crews pumped an astounding 1.8 million gallons of water out of the subway system.
“Anything that leaks in this city finds its way into our system,” said Davey.
There’s still some water that needs to be pumped out, but Davey said the evening rush hour should not be affected and the remaining work will take place during off-peak hours overnight.
Seventh Avenue in the Times Square area was closed to motor vehicle traffic, as were several side streets, as crews worked to excavate and fix the water main.
Officials say they do not expect many buildings to lose water service, nor do they believe other utilities in the “spaghetti” of cables under Times Square suffered damage.
Read more: MTA Hosts Town Hall on Interborough Express
