A massive water main break flooded the streets and stranded motorists in Queens early Thursday, officials said.
The city water main ruptured on Vernon Boulevard near 41st Avenue in Long Island City, near the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, around 3:30 a.m., according to the FDNY.
Firefighters needed to help some drivers who were stuck in their cars, the department said.
Video tweeted by WCBS 880 reporter Marla Diamond shows the wheels of several vehicles partly submerged in a massive stream of water in the middle of the street.
The break sent water flooding into the basements of two buildings in the adjacent Queensbridge Houses, a NYCHA development, and left residents there without water service, ABC 7 reported.
Meanwhile, five buildings each, at NYCHA’s Queensbridge North and South developments, were without water due to a valve not holding, a department spokeswoman said. A watering station has been set up for residents.
The scene of the massive water main break in Long Island City on Jan. 28, 2021. Seth Gottfried for NY PostNone of the buildings were flooded as of Thursday afternoon, and no heat is being affected, she said.
Resident Edgar Perez, 50, said he has no water in his apartment, where he lives with his fiancée and two daughters, 16 and 19.
“It’s bad,” he said. “We have to use water in the bottles to flush the [toilet] tank when we go to the bathroom. We have to put like six bottles of water inside the tank.”
Both Perez and Rashaun Nancys, 26, said their cars were damaged by the gushing water. Nancys, who manages a Foot Locker in Long Island, said he called out of work because his four-door Honda wouldn’t start.
“The water was like waist-level,” Nancys said. “I didn’t open the doors until the water went down.”



He also had various sneakers and caps in his car for his side business, including a pair of Yeezys that he was planning to sell for $600.
“The thing is, I usually leave sneakers in my car so I don’t have to, like, bring it upstairs and then bring it back downstairs,” he said. “Now it’s like I could never leave sneakers in my car again.”
City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, who showed up at the scene, said about 10 to 12 cars “received significant water damage.”
The rupture could be weather-related, he said.
“They do believe that because of the cold and the ways in which the metal is contracting and expanding, that’s probably what happened here. As we all know, our pipes are quite old in the City of New York,” he said. “I am just grateful it didn’t take out the heat in these buildings, and we just need the water restored as soon as possible to these families.”
A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday night that “repairs have been completed and water service has been restored to all customers.”






