WTF! IS THAT THE BRONX?

A water main break transformed four blocks of the Bronx into a swimming pool early this morning, flooding the streets and ruining cars.

The rupture sent a deluge of water into the streets and sidewalks around 3:30 a.m., depositing so much sand that the neighborhood looked like a beachfront.

Miguel Crespo, 36, of Riverdale, got off the elevated 1 train around 4:30 a.m. and found himself stranded on an island in the middle of a river.

"I've seen enough water," said Crespo, who just returned from working on the Spirit Cruise luxury liner that docked at Chelsea Pier.

After wading across Broadway to higher ground, he said, "I should have called the boat to come get me."

Chris Tores, 26, parked his car in a garage just before the main broke. "I was walking back out when I heard this rush of water coming, like a roar," he said.
"Then the water came pouring in," down the ramp to the garage's lower level.

Tores helped move some the lot's vehicles up to the ground floor, where they stayed relatively dry. "I can't tell you how many cars I moved," he said.

One car owner wasn't quite so lucky. Miguel Henriquez, 39, of Riverdale was awakened when the garage owner called to tell him there was a flood and he needed to move his car. "I thought it was a leaky pipe or something," Henriquez said.

Instead, he found his two mint-condition collector's cars submerged in four feet of water. When he opened the door of his 1966 Impala with a leather interior, water poured out. But he managed to get the engine running and drive it out of the garage.

His other car, an "untouched, original" 1969 Lincoln continental, wouldn't even start.

"You just can't replace something like this," Henriquez said, looking at the silver Impala with its midnight racing stripe. "I've lost maybe $100,000 of investment.
The car's a total loss. You can't just take it in to have it repaired. Every piece of it needs to be replaced."

He shook his head. "Last night I asked them to please keep it upstairs. I said 'I'm going to the Puerto Rico Day parade, please keep it upstairs so I can get it out early.'"

Garage staff said the damage could have been prevented.

"All we needed were ten sandbags to stop the water coming in, that's it!" said the manager at the Riverdale Parking Lot, who declined to give his name.

David Eizarro, 24, of Far Rockaway walked out of a nearby night club and stood with a group of friends staring at the sand and water.

"We could have stayed in Rockaway," he said. "We brought the beach with us."