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| Andy's Almanac - July 16 (1481044) | |||
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Andy's Almanac - July 16 |
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Posted by andy on Mon Jul 16 10:56:32 2018 Monday, July 16, 1956: Over the previous two days, a disastrous fire destroyed the vacant Wanamaker Department Store building at 8th Street and Fourth Avenue, Manhattan. Water used to fight the fire spilled onto adjacent subway tracks under Broadway (BMT, today’s N, Q, R and W lines), and under Fourth Avenue (IRT, today’s #4-5-6 lines). The IRT tunnel was flooded badly, with a train marooned in the Astor Place station. This was the first weekday after the fire. No Lexington Avenue Express service operated between Grand Central and Brooklyn Bridge, as trains were turned back at those locations. Local service (#6) operated between 23rd St. and Pelham Bay. Subway riders were instructed to use West Side IRT, IND, and BMT lines between Midtown and Lower Manhattan.It was not until Friday, July 20 that full IRT Lexington service was restored. Amazingly, Transit Authority crews repaired the damaged tunnel and trackbed, and removed the stranded train, within six days. |
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