2007 New York City steam explosion

At six o clock on a July morning in two thousand seven, a massive underground steam pipe burst at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and Forty-first Street in Manhattan. The explosion created a crater forty feet wide and sent a towering geyser of scalding steam and debris hundreds of feet into the air. This incident revealed the immense pressure within the aging infrastructure of the city, which remains one of the largest district steam systems in the world. The force of the blast launched a piece of heavy machinery through the roof of a nearby building, highlighting the hidden volatility beneath the pavement.