New York City Steam Pipe Explosion

Earlier this month, as my son and I were watching a historical documentary about the underground infrastructure of New York City, we said to each other that it was scary that anything could happen underneath our feet as we walk and we would not even know about it. The steam-pipe explosion that happened two days ago at Lexington Avenue and 41st Street, for us, was “closer to home”. It was in the area where my son and I usually walk to work, eat or meet friends. We considered ourselves lucky for not being in the city on that particular day. But I am certain that many of our friends, out on the street at the time of the explosion– getting home from work, that were hit by falling debris, steamy hot mud on their heads and bodies. They have our sympathy. Mayor Bloomberg and those of us who live in New York City have to find ways to check safety conditions of our underground infrastructures so that accident like this will not happen again. For a long time, I have never feel safe when walking on the street of old cities like New York, Tokyo, Rome, London and Paris, knowing what could go wrong underneath my feet at any moment. It turns me into a fatalistic world traveler, rather paranoid, waiting for a disaster to happen at any moment.

Filed under Environment, Travel |