Manhole Covers Explode in Manhattan Causing ‘Blast Wave’ Throughout Area

2024 is coming in with a bang in Manhattan. New York City firefighters are currently responding to reports of explosions from manhole covers on Roosevelt Island.

The New York City Fire Department told Newsweek that it rushed to 580 Main Street, south of the Roosevelt Island Bridge and Tram, just before 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday after receiving reports of explosions and buildings trembling.

According to the fire department, the situation was under control by 7:10 a.m.

Residents in the city’s Manhattan and Queens districts had phoned to report what they described as tiny explosions, according to NBC New York.

Some people resorted to social media on Tuesday morning to report feeling buildings tremble.

?Just In: Roosevelt Island, Manhattan experiences widespread power outages following a series of explosions from manholes in New York City. pic.twitter.com/OR0HpwOftK

— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) January 2, 2024

“There were three instances of a boom and a shake, the last one felt further away,” a Roosevelt Island resident wrote on X.

“I live in Manhattan and felt my building shake on 66th and 1st,” another person said.

Another individual reported feeling “the shake” in Manhattan’s Upper East Side area.

“Almost like a blast wave moving from the east to west. Hearing hovering helicopters the past 20 minutes or so,” they wrote on X.

According to ABC7, there were power disruptions on Roosevelt Island. Buildings on River Road, just south of the Roosevelt Island Bridge and Tram, were reported to be without electricity.

As the fire department stated, the situation was passed over to Con Edison. No injuries have been recorded.

Residents in New York City have been warned to anticipate traffic closures and inconveniences around Roosevelt Island on Tuesday.

“Expect road closures, mass transit disruptions and emergency personnel near Roosevelt Island. Use alternate routes,” the city’s notification system posted on X.

Last month, an electric equipment failure at a Con Edison substation caused a temporary power outage over New York City.

The company said that “a fault on a high-tension transmission line” happened soon before midnight on December 14 at the Brooklyn substation.

Con Edison President Matt Ketschke informed reporters that “a piece of high-volt electrical equipment failed in the substation, basically it short-circuited.”

According to him, “there was a voltage dip, essentially people saw a flicker in their lights for about a second a little bit before midnight, and then voltage recovered or kind of went back to normal.”