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Sinkhole Swallows 2 Cars Next to Uptown School, Officials Say

By Carolina Pichardo | January 23, 2017 2:12pm
 The sinkhole swallowed two vehicles and left an apartment building without water, officials said.
The sinkhole swallowed two vehicles and left an apartment building without water, officials said.
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DNAinfo/Carolina Pichardo

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A massive sinkhole swallowed two cars and left an apartment building without water Monday.

A water main break caused the ground to open up from "sidewalk to sidewalk" near 444 W. 167th St. near Edgecombe Avenue at 3:34 a.m., police said.

The hole spanned approximately 20 feet by 30 feet and forced Edgecombe Avenue to be closed in both directions between 165th and 170th streets, the NYPD said. The sinkhole opened up directly alongside the Mirabal Sisters Campus, which houses M.S. 319 and M.S. 324 and features an outdoor playground and track.

"The ground is just falling apart," said one witness, who declined to give his name, adding that he'd watched crews tow two cars out of the hole Monday morning.

Police said there were no injuries. The Office of Emergency Management confirmed another three cars were removed from the area for "precautionary reasons."

An OEM spokesman said first responders “visually confirmed there were two cars directly impacted by the sinkhole, and then two cars in front of those cars.”

The spokesman also said there was one car directly across the street that had to be removed.

The Department of Environmental Protection, which was leading the work to repair the sinkhole, said the water main left one building was without water. It did not say which building.

A Con Edison spokeswoman said the company was at scene in the “support capacity to monitor any underground infrastructure.”

The street was still closed early Monday afternoon.

The DEP said another water main break at Amsterdam Avenue and 163rd Street left five businesses and five homes without water Thursday.