The rushing water was only a few inches deep on the street, but videos posted on social media showed the flood cascading into the Times Square subway station down stairwells and through ventilation grates.
A 127-year-old water main under New York's Times Square gave way earlier today, flooding midtown streets and the city's busiest subway station.
The commissioner of New York City's Department of Environmental Protection said the half-meter water main gave way under 40th Street and Seventh Avenue at 3 a.m.
The rushing water was only a few inches deep on the street, but videos posted on social media showed the flood cascading into the Times Square subway station down stairwells and through ventilation grates. The water turned the trenches that carry the subway tracks into mini rivers and soaked train platforms.
It took crews about an hour to find the source of the leak and shut the water off.
The excavation left a big hole at the intersection of 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, where workers were digging with heavy equipment to get to the broken section of pipe.
While that intersection remained closed to car traffic, surrounding streets were open by rush hour.
Subway service, however, was suspended through much of Manhattan on the 1, 2 and 3 lines, which run directly under the broken pipe. New York City Transit CEO Richard Davey said service was restored with delays by midday.
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