By Jeff Mays and Tom Liddy
DNAinfo Staff
HARLEM — A water and gas main break on St. Nicholas Avenue sent a geyser shooting up into the air and opened up a gaping hole in the street Friday afternoon, witnesses and authorities said.
The massive crater appeared in front of a bus stop on St. Nicholas Avenue, near 152nd Street, at around 12:30 p.m. while fire crews were investigating the smell of gas in the area, according to FDNY Battalion Chief Michael Brown.
Woody Valez, 41, a cook who lives on the block, was walking to the store when he smelled gas and heard an explosion.
"It was a loud boom," he said. "No one knew what happened until we saw the water shooting in the air. It was a lot of water."
Fire officials cordoned off the block, but no buildings were evacuated because there was no sign of elevated gas levels. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Officials from the city's Department of Environmental Protection said that a 12-inch water main that was installed in 1956 had ruptured, leaving 100 to 150 families without water on St. Nicholas Avenue between 150th and 153rd streets.
Service was expected to be restored Friday evening.
Con Ed spokesman Allan Drury said that the utility had received several reports from customers who said that they had no gas. They believe that water may have gotten into the gas main.
Workers from both agencies were trying to isolate the source of the leak. When the gas line is capped, they can start fixing the water main, officials said.
Residents said that the cavernous hole has been plaguing the block for years.
"There has always been a sinkhole there. Its always been caving in," said filmmaker Greg Whitmore, 35.
In fact, the hole had grown so large in recent months that residents put a garbage can in it to warn motorists.
He said workers would come by from time to time to fix the hole, but the problem had been getting worse since May.
On St. Nicholas Avenue and 151st Street, Celeste Hollman sat across the street from her building with the six people that live in her apartment.
"I told my children to pack two outfits because I'm not taking any chances," she said while holding a hastily-packed plastic bag full of clothes between her legs.
"I'm not going back until I know they have fixed that pipe. I'll sit here all night if I have to. My daughter is nervous and scared."
Other residents stocked up on supplies. Reynaldo Morel bought four gallons of water from a nearby bodega. "The water is dirty," he said.
Express trains on the A line, which runs underneath St. Nicholas Avenue, were being rerouted to the local line between 145th Street and 168th Street, according to the MTA's website.
The agency said that delays can be expected on the A and C lines.
Because of the break, B train service was suspended along the entire length of the line, from Bedford Park in The Bronx to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.
There was also no D train service between 145th and 167th streets.
