Asbestos Leak: Midtown Streets Slowly Reopen, Mask Up Says Mayor

MIDTOWN, NY — While some streets surrounding the steam and possible asbestos release in East Midtown on Wednesday were beginning to reopen, the city still advises people to avoid the area if they can — and to wear masks outside if they must.

Third Avenue, which had been closed from East 42 to East 54th street, reopened to traffic Thursday morning.

First Avenue had also reopened Wednesday evening, but several streets — including East 51, 52nd and 53rd streets — remained closed as cleanup efforts continued.

At a press conference on Wednesday evening, Mayor Adams said that while the initial air testing results were negative for asbestos, emergency crews were still handing out N95 masks "out of an abundance of caution."

Authorities are worried that a leak from a pipe on East 52nd Street and Second Avenue early Wednesday morning which shot dust and debris into the air could have also contained asbestos.

And while those initial tests have yet to confirm the presence of any asbestos, the massive effort to clean the streets and building facades in the area surrounding the huge steam leak has officials asking visitors to find another path.

"We recommend New Yorkers living in the area to wear masks and stay indoors while we complete the cleaning," Adams said Wednesday.

"I know many residents in this area are anxious — anyone could be expected to be anxious seeing all this activity that's taking place," Adams added, saying that emergency crews from the city and ConEd responded "in a timely manner to get this under control."

"Every test that we have run so far, the preliminary results have been that it has been negative for asbestos in the air," said Zach Iscol, the city's emergency management commissioner, who also said that the light rain was helping with the cleanup.

ConEd said that crews onsite were still washing buildings and streets Thursday morning as they still investigated the cause of the massive steam release.

Officials said the cleanup efforts should take at least a few days.