BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A handful of buildings remained without water Friday following a water main break on Montague Street that caused tens of thousands of dollars in losses for business owners, officials said.
The break at 156 Montague St. left that building, as well as 158 and 162 Montague Sts., without water on Friday, a spokeswoman with the Department of Environmental Protection said.
Two local restaurants — Monty Q's Pizza at 158 Montague St. and Nanatori Japanese at 162 Montague St. — were forced to close following the break.
A manager at Nanatori, which also lost power, said the restaurant was taking a $10,000 to $20,000 hit during the outage.
"A lot of food we had to throw away," manager Jason Chen said Friday. "Everything is damaged, there's nothing we can do."
Chen said he is waiting for officials to tell him when he can reopen so he can order a new shipment of food.
Monty Q's Pizza, at 158 Montague St., closed Thursday and Friday following a water main break. (Credit: DNAinfo/Alexandra Leon)
Next door, Monty Q's gave free pizza to workers fixing the broken water main on Thursday, according to witnesses.
“What can you do — a lost day is a lost day,” said George, who identified himself as Monty Q's owner but declined to provide his last name.
Kate Chura, executive director of the Montague Street Business Improvement District, said on Friday that the business group is working with the city's Department of Small Business Services to support the affected storefronts.
Chura estimates the loss in business will cost Monty Q's about $10,000 a day and Nanatori more than $20,000 total.
"They're going to take a big loss," she said. "These are locally owned small businesses, this is how they make their living. Some of the business owners also live in their buildings and they didn't even get to take a hot shower last night."
While DEP officials did not say how long the repairs will take, Chura noted workers on scene estimated the fixes would be completed by the end of the day Saturday.
Meanwhile, she encouraged community members to support other business on Montague Street that remain open while repairs are being done between Court and Clinton streets.
"Most [of the businesses] are up and running, so please come support them," Chura said.
For James Weir Floral Co. at 155 Montague St., the temporary loss of water on Thursday slowed down its ability to fill orders for floral arrangements.
"We had lots of flowers to put in water, so we couldn't do much," shop owner Estela Johannesen said on Friday.
Deliveries are also backed up due to the street closure, the shop owner said.
"Today a lot of people just assume we are closed," Johannesen added.
The break occurred shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday, just outside the Court Street R station, officials said.
Montague Street, between Clinton and Court streets, remained closed to traffic Friday afternoon as DEP crews worked on repairs.
Street flooding was cleared up by Friday.
The entrances to the Court Street Station on Montague Street reopened at 3 p.m. on Friday after being closed due to the flooding, according to an MTA spokeswoman. Both elevators at the station were repaired and back in service after shutting down due to water damage, she said.
The R train had returned to normal service on Friday, according to the MTA's website.
