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Midtown Building Loses Power After Transformer Fire, Con-Ed Says

By Noah Hurowitz | November 9, 2015 1:02pm
 Firefighters respond to a transformer fire on East 26th Street between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South on Monday.
Firefighters respond to a transformer fire on East 26th Street between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South on Monday.
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DNAInfo/Noah Hurowitz

MIDTOWN SOUTH — An underground transformer fire in Midtown led to temporary street closures and forced Con Edison to shut off power to New York Life Insurance Company's 40-story East 26th Street building on Monday morning, according to officials.

Firefighters from Engine 16 in Kips Bay and Con Edison crews shut down three blocks after responding to calls of two smoking manholes around 6 a.m., an FDNY spokesman said.

Responders closed off a block of East 26th Street between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South and two blocks of Park Avenue South between East 27th and East 25th streets for about four hours, fire officials said.

The smoke was coming from a burning electrical transformer below East 26th Street, causing work crews  to cut electricity to New York Life at 31-51 East 26th St., according to a Con-Edison spokesman.

Power to the landmarked, neo-gothic tower between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South will not be restored until Monday afternoon, the spokesman added.

Traffic resumed normally on Park Avenue South by 11 a.m., but the affected block of East 26th Street will remain closed for “several hours,” according to firefighters on the scene.