Water Returns To E Harlem's Taft Houses After 3-Day Outage: NYCHA

EAST HARLEM, NY — Running water has been restored at East Harlem's Taft Houses public housing complex after three full days of outages, the New York City Housing Authority announced.

Water service was shut off to Taft Houses buildings starting at 9:30 a.m. Sunday and was restored to the full development by 10 p.m. Tuesday night, public housing officials said. A rupture of an 8-inch main water supply line caused the initial outages, and the problem was made worse when another break in the pipes occurred around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

NYCHA plumbers restored water to all but three Taft Houses buildings on Monday, but the Tuesday rupture pushed the number of buildings with outages back up to seven, public housing officials said.

During the outages, thousands of Taft Houses residents were forced to fill up on non-potable water at three water trucks set up throughout the development. Bottled water was delivered to the development's management offices and community center, officials said.

East Harlem's Taft Houses complex is made up of 10 buildings located between Park and Fifth avenues from East 112th to 115th streets. Its nine residential towers contain nearly 1,500 apartments, according to city records. About 3,000 building residents went without water for periods during the three-day outage.