MANHATTAN – A broken fire hydrant sent a torrent of water shooting four stories into the air on the Upper East Side around 12:15 pm this afternoon.
Firefighters arrived at the scene on East 90th Street near York Avenue in Yorkville to find what looked like a geyser blasting from the sidewalk— trapping people inside the building whose entrance was near the broken hydrant.
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Two FDNY firefighters braved the intense water pounding them from above and worked to shut off the water despite the punishing conditions, but it was no easy task.
The men had difficulty turning the underground valve to shut off the water— spending almost twenty minutes working on it before cutting the flow of water from the broken hydrant.
A small crowd of two dozen neighbors gathered to watch the firefighters work– taking out their phones to record the spectacle in the street. However, scenes like this have become familiar on the Upper East Side over the past few months .
Back in July, a geyser shot from East 87th Street after officials say contractors damaged a water line tap and in August a water main break flooded Third Avenue between East 79th and 80th Streets.
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Once the FDNY crew was able to stop the water today, a closer inspection of the hydrant itself tells the story of how this happened— it appears a metal ring connecting the hydrant to the tap failed at every single point where it was bolted— sending the hydrant and large internal parts shooting into the air and landing on the sidewalk.
Thankfully, no one was injured during the incident.
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