# Explosion in Upper Manhattan **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535 "2014-03-12T14:12:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/21 "2014-03-12T17:11:56Z")
Incredible photos. Amazing how the building on each side look ok. [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/12/article-0-1C3A708300000578-548_634x422.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/12/article-0-1C3A708300000578-548_634x422.jpg) [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/12/article-0-1C3AA98200000578-457_634x514.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/12/article-0-1C3AA98200000578-457_634x514.jpg) this must of been taken from inside an apartment. probably taken from twitter. [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/12/article-0-1C3A859F00000578-526_634x1086.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/03/12/article-0-1C3A859F00000578-526_634x1086.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/22 "2014-03-12T17:17:28Z")
OK, I’ve only been to Manhattan once, and I never realized they have the weirdest building numbering scheme I’ve ever seen. I started out by wondering why 1646 Park Ave. is at 116th St, when Park Avenue starts all the way down at 34th St. So, Google being my friend, I looked it up and found [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_address_algorithm). One has to wonder how and why the august city fathers settled on this scheme. That information doesn’t seem to be so easy to find out. Roddy caveat: I’ve lived in Japan, and their numbering scheme is completely different, but it’s internally logical once you learn it. This seems just weird. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/23 "2014-03-12T17:32:21Z")
**Roddy** , I especially liked that one group of streets was preceded by the statement: > [@](#): > > Some streets are special cases It appears to me that they are all special cases. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/24 "2014-03-12T17:32:39Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > OK, I’ve only been to Manhattan once, and I never realized they have the weirdest building numbering scheme I’ve ever seen. > > I started out by wondering why 1646 Park Ave. is at 116th St, when Park Avenue starts all the way down at 34th St. > > So, Google being my friend, I looked it up and found [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_address_algorithm). > > One has to wonder how and why the august city fathers settled on this scheme. That information doesn’t seem to be so easy to find out. Looks like a question for Cecil! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/25 "2014-03-12T17:47:20Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Fuckin’ what? How the hell does this persist? Because the infrastructure of NYC in general, Manhattan in particular and the older sections (=less rebuilt in recent decades) are outdated to old to ancient, and the complexity of overlapping components is almost beyond human comprehension and well beyond any nominal record-keeping. Everything leaks, no one knows where the pipes are much less the leaks, and NYC is no better off financially than most cities. So they concentrate resources and fix things when there’s no other option, not when someone thinks they smell gas. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/26 "2014-03-12T17:49:31Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Because the infrastructure of NYC in general, Manhattan in particular and the older sections (=less rebuilt in recent decades) are outdated to old to ancient, and the complexity of overlapping components is almost beyond human comprehension and well beyond any nominal record-keeping. Everything leaks, no one knows where the pipes are much less the leaks, and NYC is no better off financially than most cities. > > So they concentrate resources and fix things when there’s no other option, not when someone thinks they smell gas. Just read this article… > **[Gas Infrastructure Is Falling Apart in Cities Around the Country](https://slate.com/technology/2014/03/harlem-explosion-gas-infrastructure-in-new-york-and-other-cities-needs-major-improvements-to-be-safe.html)** > > An explosion in Harlem this morning that led to the collapse of two five-story buildings may have been caused by a gas leak. The New York Times reports... ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/27 "2014-03-12T17:51:08Z")
Park Ave doesn’t start at 34th Street; it’s just called different things: Park Ave South, Union Square East, and 4th Ave. As for the numbering, I blame the Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/28 "2014-03-12T18:20:26Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Park Ave doesn’t start at 34th Street; it’s just called different things: Park Ave South, Union Square East, and 4th Ave. > > As for the numbering, I blame the Dutch. For purposes of numbering buildings, I assumed that Park Avenue South would start a different set (which it does, but not in the way I expected). Those other names also occur south of 34th St. What I was trying to say is that the street is named Park Avenue runs uninterrupted all the way from 34th St up well past 116th St (unless you want to count Park Avenue Viaduct around Grand Central as an interruption), but the numbering is, ah, unexpected. Yes, let’s blame the Dutch. Or let’s ask Cecil. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/29 "2014-03-12T18:22:01Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > OK, I’ve only been to Manhattan once, and I never realized they have the weirdest building numbering scheme I’ve ever seen. > > I started out by wondering why 1646 Park Ave. is at 116th St, when Park Avenue starts all the way down at 34th St. > > So, Google being my friend, I looked it up and found [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_address_algorithm). > > One has to wonder how and why the august city fathers settled on this scheme. That information doesn’t seem to be so easy to find out. > Roddy > > caveat: I’ve lived in Japan, and their numbering scheme is completely different, but it’s internally logical once you learn it. This seems just weird. Numerical addresses don’t mean a thing in NYC unless you are a postal worker. Everything, and I mean everything, is done by intersection. For example, if you are going downtown you aren’t going to 75 Broadway even if that is your destination, you are going to Broadway and Wall St. If you get in a cab and give them the physical address of a building I’d bet $1000 they couldn’t get you there unless you gave them the nearest intersection as well. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/30 "2014-03-12T18:25:39Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > If you get in a cab and give them the physical address of a building I’d bet $1000 they couldn’t get you there unless you gave them the nearest intersection as well. Unless they have GPS, which more of them seem to have these days. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/31 "2014-03-12T18:27:02Z")
At least it’s not the system used in Pacific Northwest cities, with four-corners numbering from an arbitrary point, which all residents stoutly defend as sensible and logical and everyone else just rolls their eyes and puts up with, especially when trying to ship stuff there. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/32 "2014-03-12T19:09:10Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > For purposes of numbering buildings, I assumed that Park Avenue South would start a different set (which it does, but not in the way I expected). Those other names also occur south of 34th St. What I was trying to say is that the street is named Park Avenue runs uninterrupted all the way from 34th St up well past 116th St (unless you want to count Park Avenue Viaduct around Grand Central as an interruption), but the numbering is, ah, unexpected. > > Yes, let’s blame the Dutch. Or let’s ask Cecil. Lucky you don’t live in London, where street numbers and even road names themselves reset every other block. (That’s typical just about every European city, I think.) ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/33 "2014-03-12T23:32:20Z")
I thought both Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew are long dead! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/34 "2014-03-13T07:49:21Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Because the infrastructure of NYC in general, Manhattan in particular and the older sections (=less rebuilt in recent decades) are outdated to old to ancient, and the complexity of overlapping components is almost beyond human comprehension and well beyond any nominal record-keeping. Everything leaks, no one knows where the pipes are much less the leaks, and NYC is no better off financially than most cities. Wonder if they will now undertake to locate and inspect and repair pipelines all over the city now. On Sept. 9, 2010, there was a massive pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Ca. (near San Francisco Airport) that [turned a residential block into a crater](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_San_Bruno_pipeline_explosion). In the aftermath, it became clear that Pacific Gas & Electric didn’t really know what kind of condition all their pipes were in, they are all so old. Ever since then, they have been tearing up streets all over Northern California, inspecting pipes. They appear to be having a serious program of inspecting their entire infrastructure. They also now publish the locations of their underground pipes, which was kept more or less secret before. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/35 "2014-03-13T08:57:23Z")
Cops let a guy with a drone take some photos and video. [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/drone-captures-e-harlem-explosion-scene-video-article-1.1719988](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/drone-captures-e-harlem-explosion-scene-video-article-1.1719988) That first photo really is amazing. Where did all the debris go from the building? I guess the brick just turned to dust. Looks like a couple Bobcats could clean it out in a few days. The hardest part to clear will be the exterior shell that is in the back of that photo. That will have to been taken down before the Bobcats can clear the site. I wonder if that building on the left can be saved? Looks like a lot of debris on its roof. It must have taken a hard hit. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/36 "2014-03-13T12:03:05Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Because the infrastructure of NYC in general, Manhattan in particular and the older sections (=less rebuilt in recent decades) are outdated to old to ancient, and the complexity of overlapping components is almost beyond human comprehension and well beyond any nominal record-keeping. Everything leaks, no one knows where the pipes are much less the leaks, and NYC is no better off financially than most cities. > > So they concentrate resources and fix things when there’s no other option, not when someone thinks they smell gas. This. Unfortunately, tragedies like this are going to continue until problems America’s aging infrastructure are addressed. There are literally millions of similar time bombs out there waiting to go off because people don’t to spend the money to fix them until after they cause deaths and destruction. Think about that when you are bitching about tax increases and yet driving across a 100 year-old bridge every morning on your way to work. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/37 "2014-03-13T17:19:34Z")
Man survives New York blast thanks to ‘cocoon’ of pianos > **[Man survives New York blast thanks to 'cocoon' of pianos](https://news.yahoo.com/man-survives-blast-thanks-to--piano-cocoon--141223553.html)** > > As horrific as Wednesday's gas explosion in East Harlem, N.Y., was, it could have been even worse were it not for a "cocoon" of pianos that kept one man safe from the debris, the New York Post reports. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/38 "2014-03-13T19:31:26Z")
That’s crazy ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535/39 "2014-03-14T00:24:54Z")
Death count is up to 8: > **[Eighth body found after New York City blast](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-26558068)** > > Rescuers find the body of an eighth victim following a gas leak and explosion that demolished two buildings in Harlem, New York City. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosion-in-upper-manhattan/683535.md?page=1)