July 20, 2007

Frozen zone shrinks south of Grand Central

(Update: The frozen zone is shrinking again as of the Monday morning commute, July 23.)

All subways have returned to normal service, the air has tested free of asbestos but a smaller "frozen zone" remains in place south of Grand Central Terminal as a result of Wednesday's steam pipe explosion that led to the death of one woman and injuries for at least 45 others, including two still in critical condition.

That was the news Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered during his Thursday evening news conference.

Vanderbilt Avenue has reopened, allowing pedestrians access to Grand Central. Third Avenue was re-opened for Thursday evening's rush hour, but closed later to allow the fire department to finish the cleanup there. The target was to permanently reopen Third in time for Friday morning's commute. But just after 6 a.m. this morning, NY1 reported it had not reopened yet.

(7 a.m. update: Third Ave is now open to traffic, NY1 reports.)

Next to open: Lexington between 42nd and 43rd should open by the end of the weekend. Its cleanup is being handled by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. ConEd hopes to reopen 42nd Street between 3rd and Park sometime on Monday. But the area closest to the crater, also getting cleaned up by ConEd, will not open until well “into the greater part of next week,” Bloomberg said.

The traffic frozen zone remains unchanged and buses are still being rerouted to avoid the area. Lexington remains closed between and 38th and 57th streets, including crosstown traffic in the same area.

The Department of Environmental Protection took 12 air samples and all came back free of asbestos, Bloomberg said. There were 71 samples taken of debris, of which only 56 tests had been completed by Thursday evening. Of those 56 tests, 14 tested positive and only two of those showed anything more than trace amounts. The two with the significant positive results likely contained actual pieces of the asbestos that covered the broken steam pipe, the mayor said.

Buildings will remain closed south of Grand Central until building owners get them professionally cleaned and certified. The mayor also noted that hotel guests within the frozen zone were allowed back to their hotel rooms.

Resources: The Thursday night update from the NYC Dept.of Office of Emergency Management.

July 20, 2007 05:41 AM in Midtown, Transportology

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