Water Main Break Floods Upper East Side Street, Cause Unknown

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — New York City officials remain uncertain of what caused a major water main break on the Upper East Side left that flooded city streets and shut down traffic on Third Avenue between East 79th and 80th streets on Thursday.

New York City's Office of Emergency Management tweeted that residents should expect emergency personnel and traffic in the area. City officials did not indicate how long the area would be affected by the water, but work continued throughout the day to attempt to fix the water main break.

NYPD closed traffic in both directions and that 3rd Avenue between East 79th Street & East 80th Street. Water service has been shut off in the area as crews worked to attempted to complete work.

On Thursday afternoon, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection said in an email to Patch that the cause of the water main break has not yet been determined. He said that repairs at the location remain ongoing and that the priority is to complete the repairs as soon as possible.

He did not offer a timeline as to when work would conclude.