New York Minute 120 - Noisy Night

This past Thursday evening, during an early-season snowstorm, the fire hydrant on the corner outside of my building broke and spewed water into the streets at full blast for about four to five hours. Apparently, the city was in no hurry to shut it down. On top of the rain and snow, our street got to enjoy its own temporary lake.

For context, the broken hydrant is located less than twenty feet away from the two manholes that exploded a couple of weeks ago. I wonder whether the heat from the explosions may have weakened the steel.

The city people finally arrived on the scene and shut down the gushing hydrant late at around around ten or eleven, and all was quiet. It’s been quiet ever since. I noted last night that I hadn’t seen any trucks or workmen on the ill-fated corner for days.

And then, suddenly, the silence was broken! At one o’clock this morning, sharp, a crew started using a jackhammer in the street next to the fire hydrant. At one o’clock in the flipping morning! As a city dweller, I can sleep through an amazing array of noise. But the sound of a jackhammer starting up in the middle of the night is unusual enough to get anyone’s attention. Luckily, I was so tired that I eventually tuned it out and drift off.

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