Holezapoppin’ – Joralemon Street Manhole Fire Redux

By on September 30, 2010 11:21 am in Brooklyn Heights, News

BHB reader photo by Tarek

FDNY is operating near Joralemon St. & Columbia Place now where several ConEd manholes have blown their top.  This is a replay of the events of January 18, 2010, in which several manholes exploded reportedly as a result of work being done on Willow Place by National Grid contractors.

Update: BHB reader “Tarek” sends us the above photo of the fire and it looks mighty scary – more here.

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  • PennyRC

    Notification issued 9/30/10 at 11:25 AM. Joralemon Street between Columbia Place and Willow Place in Brooklyn is closed due to multiple transformer fires. There are no evacuations or mass transit disruptions at this time.

    The sender provided the following contact information.
    Sender’s Name: Notify NYC
    Sender’s Email: notifynyc@oem.nyc.gov
    Sender’s Contact Phone: 2126399675

  • bklyn20

    I was not there to see it, but I heard from a friend that a manhole cover on Joraleon Street levitated AGAIN, and that a car went into flames from the manhole fire. I also heard that the fire/explosions were ConEd issues, not MTA issues.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    When I went by the scene early this afternoon, there were two red Con Ed service vans parked near manholes with the covers open and workers going into them. One was at Joralemon and Columbia Place, and the other was at Joralemon and Furman, near the northeast corner of One Brooklyn Bridge Park. While I was there a car was towed from where it had been parked, on the south side of Joralemon between Columbia and Willow Place and next to where stanchions and rope had been put around a sidewalk grille, to an empty spot on the north side of Joralemon. the car did not appear to have been damaged.

  • Eddy de Lectron

    I think I won’t be parking on that block anymore.

  • suzette

    I don’t think this is coincidence that it happens again one block south. What is the City/ConEd/National Grid waiting for to fix??? Maybe they will fix after the block blows up.
    BTW, nice photos Tarek.

  • bklyn20bklyn20

    These new explosions, in under a year since the previous three explosions, are more reason to close Joralemon Street at Furman Street with retractable bollards. A fragile street above a major subway line should not have to bear more vehicular traffic. Haven’t there been enough life-threatening events on Joralemon Street? We need to do whatever we can to prevent more.

  • A

    ^ So transformers explode in underground utility tunnels….and you say the cars on the street surface are the problem and enhance this danger?

  • bklyn20

    The closure of Joralemon at Furman is a long-standing pledge to the Willowtown and South Heights community since the inception of the BBP idea several decades ago. Even Wendy Leventer, then-head of the BBPDC in 2004-2005, swore it would be closed at a public hearing in early 2005. Additional vehicular traffic on a single-lane cobblestone street over a major subway line is bad for the community and bad for the infrastructure in general. Remember that public transit access to the park is very poor; people traveling from outside the nearby neighborhoods are likely to drive. Retractable bollards allow emergency vehicle to get into the park and onto Furman.Even The BHA agrees that this is a good idea!

  • Arch Stanton

    Bklyn20″Additional vehicular traffic on a single-lane cobblestone street over a major subway line is bad for the community and bad for the infrastructure in general” That statement sounds ridiculous. The subway line is far underground at that point and in no way harmed by vehicles on the street (if it was the BQE would do far more damage, anyway). Most subway lines are only about 30 feet or so below far busier streets. And what do cobblestones have to do with it?
    You obviously know very little about the physical infrastructure of NYC.

  • bklyn20

    Arch Stanton, thanks so much for the snide post. Are you a licensed and credentialed engineer?

    I wrote “we need to do whatever we can” to stop additional explosions. I did not claim great infrastrusture knowledge, just common sense. Ther are other points tin my arguments in favor of closing off Joralemon Street at Furman Street.

    A brief investigation of the issues involved here would show you that:
    1, There is insuficient public transit access to BBP
    2. Pedestian access, especially at the Pier 1 and Pier 6 entrances, is very poor, to the point of being dangerous.
    ADA accessibility is a joke.
    3. Lower Joralemon is a narrow street — full of families and children, no less. It cannot hold a great deal more car/truck traffic, The fact that this was a basic tenet of earlier park plans shows the legitimacy of this point. The BHA supports closing Joralemon at Furman, even though they disagree with me and MANY other people about the suitability of housing in Brooklyn Bridge Park. In case you don’t know, me and the the MANY other people think it’s unsuitable.
    4. Some basic math for you:
    Atlantic Avenue = 4-lane street plus parking on both sides=big street
    Old Fulton Street = 4+-lane street plus parking on both sides = big street.
    Joralemon Street = 1-lane street with parking on both sides = small street.
    5. The Willowtown neighborhood, and the South Heights in general, will be overwhelmed by bumper-to-bumper traffic once the park is fully built, not even considering the possible additional housing or even the retail and restaurants that are necessary to support the park. Big traffic belongs on big streets.
    6. Lower Joralemon is the only cobblestone, or actually paving stone street, I think — left in Brooklyn Heights. There may still be a short “stone” block near Old Fulton Street on the Heights side. As such, lower Joralemon merits care and consideration in our Brooklyn Heights Historic District Neighborhood.

    There have been two serious explosions in these 2 blocks in less than a year. Only some kind of divine providence, if such a thing exists, has prevented anyone from being injured or killed. Much of Willowtown had to evacuate their homes for hours during the January incidents. If that’s cool by you, maybe the Gruccis can set off some surprise fireworks in your front yard. Let us all know so we can put it on the blog and come enjoy the show.

  • A

    ^^^^Bklyn20

    What does any of this have to do with cars correlating with the explosions??!!

    I live in Willowtown and I own a car, and your idea is completely terrible and will only cause congestion on surrounding streets.

    I’m glad whomever “swore” to close Joralemon to vehicular traffic didn’t have the authority nor follow through to see it happen.

    Awful idea. Just awful.

  • bklyn20

    Closing Joralemon at Furman would not increase traffic around the neighborhood, It would instead decrease the number of cars that turn off of Henry Street and onto Joralemon, shoot down the hill at top speed and use Furman as an alternative entrance to the BQE. Similarly. those driving to BBP would have to enter via Atlantic Avenue instead of using Joralemon as a shortcut.

    There are signs around the neighborhood stating “Trucks for local deliveries only” or something similar. Why should Joralemon, a single-lane street, function as a BQE/BBP on-ramp? Lower the number of cars, so the people coming to the park, and the people of the neighborhood, will be safer.

    I want to keep this idea on the table however I can, just as I continue to point out the deficiencies in the current park plan.
    To put it another way, if your house had structual deficiencies, would you add another story on top of it?

    We’re really lucky that no one was injured yesterday, and that no one had to spend the day out in the rain waiting to see if they could return to their homes before dark. Two explosion incidents in less than 10 months is awful, and is not just an idea. We should do what is best for the neighborhood and stop pressing our luck.

  • Obama?

    I suggest you Willowtown people get together & see what can be done about exploding manholes, flames leaping out of sewers, and those antiquated powerstations in your neck of the hood. Hold the utilities/corporatists accountable. How do you live like that? Someone’s going to get hurt, or worse!

  • Arch Stanton

    Bklyn20,
    “Thanks so much for the snide post. Are you a licensed and credentialed engineer?” No, and from the ignorance evident in most of your posts neither are you. I do have extensive knowledge and experience in construction (30 years), physics, mathematics and two years of formal education in engineering. More than enough credentials to make a sound logical assessment of the issue, not just the “common sense” you think you have.

    It is quite clear you have a self-serving agenda… I’ll take a guess; you don’t drive, you live on Joralemon st and you are anti car….

    “Insufficient public transit access to BBP”
    Not true. Brooklyn Heights enjoys the largest number of subway lines within a relative close proximity than any other neighborhood in the city, all within walking distance of the park. Also, there are busses on both Atlantic Ave. and Old Fulton St. that stop right at the entrances to the park.

    “Pedestrian access, especially at the Pier 1 and Pier 6 entrances, is very poor, to the point of being dangerous”.
    This is one point I would somewhat agree with you on. The pedestrian crossings at Atlantic and the BQE and Old Fulton and BQE are dangerous. However, if you close Joralemon @ Furman you will only increase vehicle traffic at those intersections exacerbating the problem.

    “Lower Joralemon is a narrow street — full of families and children, no less. It cannot hold a great deal more car/truck traffic”
    All the streets with in the boundaries of the Heights are one-way (small exception, Pierrepont between Columbia H and Willow St) one-lane and are relatively narrow. All have children and families Including Montague St which has much heavier traffic (and also has a subway line beneath it). So what makes Joralemon st so special? I frequently drive down Joralemon and almost never see more than on or two other cars waiting at the Furman st light. If all you close Joralemon all the traffic exiting the neighborhood to the south would have to take Henry st. which already frequently backs up with bumper to bumper traffic.

    “The Willowtown neighborhood, and the South Heights in general, will be overwhelmed by bumper-to-bumper traffic once the park is fully built”
    This is only speculation. For the most part, Joralemon only serves cars within the neighborhood, it is not a logical rout for vehicles approaching the park from other areas. Also, it is doubtful that hordes of people will be driving to the park and there will ever be bumper-to-bumper traffic on lower Joralemon. If there ever is the problem can be addressed at that time.

    “Lower Joralemon is the only cobblestone, or actually paving stone street, I think — left in Brooklyn Heights. Lower Joralemon merits care and consideration in our Brooklyn Heights Historic District Neighborhood”
    What does this have to do with cars? There are many stone paved streets that are much older and in fine condition, some are still in continuous use since the Romans built them over 2000 years ago.

    “There have been two serious explosions in these 2 blocks in less than a year. Only some kind of divine providence, if such a thing exists, has prevented anyone from being injured or killed”
    Again what does this have to do with cars, and how would closing the street prevent further explosions? There are thousands of electrical junctions and transformers beneath the streets of NYC, most of which experience much heavier traffic than Joralemon st.

  • bklyn20

    I don’t know if they’re connected, and don’t pretend to be an expert. It just scares the hell out of me. I do have well over a decade of volunteer parks advocacy, and not just on BBP. I do not live on Joralemon, but near it. I do not have a car but wish I did. I do not own a bike, and am philosphically in favor of bike lanes all over the city, but in practice — not so much.

    The buses on Atlantic Avenue come irregularly — sometimes every 10 or 15 minutes, sometimes every 45. That’s the nature of bus transportation. It’s not adequate transit access for what is supposed to be a major park. The access points at Atlantic and Old Fulton need to be remediated — whatever happens with Joralemon.

    I can only hope that excess car traffic on lower Joralemon will be addressed “at the proper time,” but so far little in the park has been addressed at the proper time, so I am keeping the idea out there as much as possible. Remember that a 16-story and a 30-story building may go up near the Pier 6 entrance. The convenient way to get to those apartment buidlings — Joralemon Street.

    Sure, there are many streets in NYC running over transformers and electrical junctions. Have they had a persistent problems with stray electrical current cracking residential water lines? Did the buildings adjoining those streets have newly-emerging cracks in their basements and foundations until the MTA was forced to address excess vibration from the subway track? Have those streets had, again, 2 serious life-threatening explosions in under a year? Apart from the explosions, did you know anything about the vibration issue? How about the water line issue? Both were studied and eventually remediated with help from then-Councilman Yassky’s office.

    My “agenda” is anything but self-serving. Years of volunteering make me no money. It actually costs me time and money. I have spent all kinds of time, and lost time and pay at work, testifying for the preservation of what’s left of the garden behind The Riverside Houses. I don’t live there. I spend hours every month at meetings for volunteer groups trying to help people who live in an entirely different neighborhood from mine. You are certainly entitled to disagree with me, and I do not pretend to be an engineer — but calling me self-serving is way off base.

    I don’t even PRETEND to know that additional traffic will exacerbate the Joralemon Street problems. I worry that there is a connection. Sorry if wanting my neighborhood to be safer in our homes and streets gets you all riled up.

  • weegee

    FWIW, there are hundreds of manhole fires/transformer flare-ups every year, particularly in inclement weather. Off the top of my head, Remsen and Henry, Old Fulton St., Court and State, Clark and Willow come to mind in recent years.