A burst to a water mains pipe caused major flooding and havoc to both residents and local businesses in the vicinity of Webster Avenue, East 201st Street, Mosholu Parkway South, and Bedford Park Boulevard in Norwood / Bedford Park on Monday night, Dec. 16, according to eyewitness accounts.

Several cars in the area were seen semi-submerged in water amid the flooding and over two dozen families have been temporarily rehoused amid one of the busiest holiday seasons, according to the Red Cross.

NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials later said that a DEP emergency contractor had successfully completed the temporary restoration of street repaving along Webster Avenue following street damage caused by the flooding, that clean-up operations have been finalized, and that the roadway has been reopened to two-way traffic.

A water mains is a large underground pipe designed to allow water to flow through it and into multiple connected smaller pipes which lead to buildings, both residential and commercial, to provide running water.

The DEP representative added that due to the depth of the water mains, the complexity of the required repair, and to limit any further disruption to the holiday season, final/permanent re-construction of the repaving has been scheduled for a later date.

DEP officals added, “Residents and businesses who suffered any property damage are encouraged to file a claim with the Comptroller’s Office and any DEP-related concerns or inquiries can be directed to BronxDEP@dep.nyc.gov.”

DEP officials confirmed that all residents and businesses continued to have water service throughout the incident, and added that inquiries on electric and gas should be directed to the appropriate company.

Asked about the cause of the incident, a DEP spokeperson said, “We won’t know that for several weeks – water main will be sent to a lab for an analysis.” We also asked about the exact location of the burst and the timing of same. We did not receive an immediate response but will share any further updates we receive.

Meanwhile, when contacted about the incident and any possible injuries resulting from it, the FDNY said there were no injuries reported and referred us to the NYPD for information on any potential criminality relating to the incident. We reached out to the NYPD and will share any updates we receive.

Norwood News also reached out to Con Edition for more information about the incident and a spokesperson said, “Con Edison infrastructure repairs were completed Tuesday night. We continue to work collaboratively with the interagency response team to restore gas and electric service to customers in the impacted area.”

The statement continued, “We are ready to restore service as quickly and safely as possible once building repairs are completed and cleared by inspection. We have reached out to impacted customers and have a Con Edison Customer Outreach van on site to actively answer customer questions.”

Erik Gonzalez, a resident and member of local walking and running group, Bronx Nomads, witnessed the flooding as it occurred on Tuesday night. “We walked right under the Mosholu Parkway overpass where unbeknownst to us at that time, not even 15 minutes later, would be quite a chaotic scene. As we continued our walk, and as we turned off of Webster onto Bedford and on our way back to our start, we could not help but to turn back onto Webster where we were just moments ago at the sight of currents of water flowing, not expected with the fizzle of rain at the time.”

Gonzalez said that as he and his colleagues stood at the corner of 201st Street and Webster Avenue looking in disbelief at the amount of water accumulating in the area, they notified both FDNY and NYPD first responders of a homeless person they had seen earlier who Gonzalez described as “only sheltered by a thick, dark blanket and the roof of the overpass near the area where the water was gushing the fiercest.”

“In this cold, wet weather, I cannot imagine anyone getting caught off guard by something so unexpected like this occurrence,” he said. “I really hope this homeless person made it out on time and is safe and not swept away. I get a feeling this homeless person may have been known to be at this location somewhat regularly. I’d like to think that this person is safe and made it through the night, but if any update is known about this person I’d like to know for piece of mind.”

Norwood News reached out to the City’s emergency services to inquire about the homeless person. The FDNY confirmed no person was rescued during the incident and they had no information about the referenced homeless person. We will share any updates we receive from the NYPD.

Bronx Community Board 7 later shared information on how to file a claim for property damage following the flooding. See the attached flier below.

Con Edison and NYC Department of Sanitation workers were later observed removing mud and debris from the roadways. NYC Department of Emergency Management and the NYPD were also observed in the area. 

Another male resident told Norwood News if authorities had fixed the pipe beforehand, the flooding would not have happened. In October, Norwood News already reported how several small businesses were without water temporarily after a contractor performing work for one of them accidentally struck a water pipe.

Of the latest flooding, one young woman said it had been a scary situation and had reminded her of high waves at the beach. Another man called Jose said he lived on the block and had parked his car near the 52nd Precinct. He said he thought it would be safe there but was wrong. “The criminals did not get into it but the water sure did,” he said.

*Miriam Quiñones contributed to this story. 

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.