Bay Ridge residents were without water and electricity on Tuesday because of a break in the sewer line.
What You Need To Know
- A sewer line break on Tuesday morning meant no water and no electricity well into the evening
- For most of the day, residents on Sixth Avenue between 67th And 68th streets were left to lug buckets or gallons of water to their homes
- Before crews expanded the hole in the ground to repair the sewer line, an official at the scene said it measured 25 feet by 15 feet wide and 20 feet deep
“Happy New Year, right?” said resident Steven Chan.
This is not the way Chan, his wife, Cindy, and their neighbors thought they were going to start the new year when they woke up to a massive crater in the street outside their homes.
“For a few days, I saw it was sinking, but I didn’t realize it would turn out a big hole like this,” Steven said.
A sewer line break on Tuesday morning meant no water and no electricity well into the evening.
For most of the day, residents on Sixth Avenue between 67th and 68th streets were left to lug buckets or gallons of water to their homes.
“I’m concerned about my mother. She’s 100 years old,” said resident Omar Skaff.
As the sun set, Skaff took out a portable light to give his elderly mother, who lives next door. He said they have no choice but to sit and wait it out.
“I mean, what can we do?” Skaff said.
Before crews expanded the hole in the ground to repair the sewer line, an official at the scene said it measured 25 feet by 15 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
“They got lucky that that’s by a fire hydrant so no one’s car went with it into the sinkhole,” said resident Nicole Kiladitas.
With a four-month-old baby waiting on a gallon of water to make formula for the rest of Kiladitas’ family, she said it’s take out for them.
“There are certain environmental factors that are out of control, so as long as they’re working on it, that’s all that we can hope for,” Kiladitas said.
Once the electricity is turned on, the only thing left is to fill in the hole and open the road back up to traffic. It’s unclear when that will happen.
By the end of Tuesday night, water was restored to the homes that were impacted.
According to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, there may be some discoloration in the water, “which is not uncommon when there has been a disturbance to water mains.”
The department said if residents see discolored water, they should run the water tap until it runs clear and cold.