There was a shocking sight on a quiet Upper East Side side street, when a hulking dump truck filled to the brim with sand fell through the roadway, and was partially swallowed by a sinkhole that opened above a gas main Saturday morning.
The rear passenger side wheels of the massive dump truck were in the four-foot deep underground gap, while its front driver-side wheel is dangling off the ground. The dump truck’s metal frame visibly twisted from the stress.
FDNY crews were staged nearby on East 66th Street, between First and York Avenues, as Con Edison workers drilled holes into the ground, snaking a short hose into the pavement test for leaking gas to figure out whether an underground gas main had been punctured during the roadway collapse.
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Con Edison tells Upper East Site that all pressure readings came back normal and that their gas main under 66th Street is not damaged.
Crews from the utility company will remain on scene throughout the day to make sure the line’s integrity remains in-tact as the massive dump truck is removed and the gaping cavern underneath filled back up.
“A sinkhole in Manhattan!?” a neighbor shouted upon seeing what is typically a rare sight for Upper East Side residents.
Another joked that he needed to lose weight after seeing the heavy truck that fell right through the roadway.
However, an FDNY official on the scene explained that these types of sinkholes are not uncommon and that the truck’s weight isn’t primarily the cause of the street collapse.
“It’s about being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he explained to Upper East Site.
This is not the first stunning sinkhole to open on the Upper East Side in recent history. Back in the Summer of 2021, a 15-feet wide, 20-feet hole caved in on East 89th Street near York Avenue. In that case, a water main had to be replaced underneath the street.
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Just this past September, two Good Samaritans came to the aid of drivers when a large sinkhole opened up in the intersection of First Avenue at East 86th Street — grabbing cones from a construction site to block cars from driving in.
Meanwhile, East 66th Street remains off limits to traffic, but pedestrians are being allowed to pass through. At this point it is too early to tell what caused Saturday morning’s street collapse.
Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
