Comments | az2tx: I hope the city gets sued

az2tx

I hope the city gets sued

Jul 18, 2007 20:20

Huge Steam Pipe Blast Kills One in NYC

Jul 18, 10:18 PM (ET)

By ADAM GOLDMAN

NEW YORK (AP) - An underground steam pipe explosion tore through a Manhattan street near Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday, swallowing a tow truck and killing one person as hundreds of others ran for cover amid a towering geyser of steam and flying rubble.

Mayor ( Read more... )

Comments 5

starfishncoffee July 19 2007, 03:40:19 UTC

This is just ridiculous. I was on my way home when it happened, and didn't find out until I got in the door.
This, exploding and electrocuting manhole covers when it's cold, major power outages every time it gets over 90 degrees, the subway getting all screwy whenever it rains, it goes on and on.
I know this is an old city, but the city government and utilities need to start taking some responsibility for the fact that things aren't working right and that they need to fix them. Oh but wait...that's too much to ask for.

starfishncoffee July 19 2007, 03:41:17 UTC

Also I just can't like Bloomberg. He's just so damn smug.
He and his cronies also have really screwed up priorities.

az2tx July 19 2007, 15:40:19 UTC

Yeah, I agree with you. I have not been overly impressed with much that Bloomberg has had to say.

ytterbius July 19 2007, 04:25:50 UTC

I don't know that the city should be liable for such a thing. Yes, it's an old pipe, but we don't see them regularly blowing up, so it doesn't seem to be a chronic issue of old pipes, or poor maintenance. Now, if there was a specific warning and it was ignored, then that would be a different issue.

az2tx July 19 2007, 15:38:37 UTC

Just because they are not blowing up all over the city doesn't mean it isn't a problem and that the city was not negligent. The fact is that they claim that the pipelines are "checked regularly". I am not an engineer, but I would assume that if there is a weakness in a pipe that is enough to cause an explosion, it has most likely been compromised for some time.

I would be curious to see the maintenance logs. I bet that there is some attorney in New York who is already making an open records request to receive them.