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Blast cleanup to continue

Saturday, July 21, 2007

(New York - WABC, July 21, 2007) (WABC) -- The clean-up is continuing at the site of the steam pipe explosion in midtown. Before the evening is done, workers are expected to lift that tow-truck out of the blast crater.

Also Saturday, officials reduced the frozen zone which is the area closed-off to pedestrians and business owners.

Now, the only areas blocked off are from east 40th Street to 42nd Street and Park Avenue to 3rd Avenue.

Eyewitness News reporter Marcus Solis has the very latest from midtown.

That round-the-clock clean up continues. You can see a blue piece of machinery that is being used to vacuum out debris from the crater from the blast site. That is just one step in a long and slow cleanup process.

This is why it's a frozen zone: glass raining down onto Lexington Avenue. This morning workers finished breaking partially cracked windows so they could be boarded up. The fire department will then power-wash the sides of the buildings. Slowly but surely progress is being made.

"We want to continue to shrink this frozen zone as much as possible and open up traffic," said NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. "As you can see, it is much improved from what it was yesterday."

Saturday Lexington Avenue between 42 and 43rd Streets was reopened to pedestrians and businesses. South of the blast site on 39th Street, only a handful of merchants were allowed to reopen.

The owner of Scotty's Diner says he lost $ 8,000 a day.

"Obviously the business has slowed down because there is less traffic through the area," pharmacist Lawrence Siegel said. "But some people have been placing phone orders so that works to help make it up."

The cleanup is a delicate process. Because of asbestos concerns, every bit of debris is being vacuumed into 55-gallon drums, which are immediately sealed.

Meantime many companies have hired independent firms to conduct air quality tests.

"A visual inspection of the building indicates that it has breached the 26th and 27th floor. It looks like they occupied space on the 25th," said Steve Gordon from American Site Restoration. "So they have independent health concerns."

There is still no timetable on when the streets will be completely reopened, yet.

Workers are trying to get the tow truck out of the blast site sometime Saturday night.

As we wait for that tow truck to be removed from the crater, the two people who were inside at the time of the explosion remain hospitalized.

The driver, 23-year-old Gregory McCullough, suffered burns to more than 80 percent of his body. He is recovering inside the burn center at NY Presbyterian Hospital.

His passenger, Judith Bailey was also severely burned. Bailey, 30-year-old and mother of two, was being driven back to Brooklyn after her car broke down.

She is also at New York Presbyterian and is listed in serious condition Saturday night.

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