Gas leak forces Middle Neck evacuation

Dan Glaun

A stretch of Middle Neck Road in the Village of Great Neck Plaza was temporarily evacuated Thursday after road workers nicked a gas line, causing a leak, according to eyewitnesses.

Traffic cones and Great Neck Plaza code enforcement personnel blocked off Middle Neck Road between Grace Avenue and Maple Drive Thursday afternoon, as a Con Edison utility crew worked to repair the gas leak. 

Eyewitnesses working at nearby stores said a road crew hit the gas line around noon, causing a visible plume of gas that firefighters tried to clear using water hoses. 

Police and fire crews arrived on scene and evacuated businesses on both sides of the street until about 1 p.m., and the street was re-opened by 2:50 p.m., according to a worker at a Middle Neck Road business.

A manager at a Middle Neck Road restaurant, who did not wish to be identified, said his business still did not have its gas restored at 2:30 p.m. 

“This morning that were drilling and they popped a hole in our gas line,” he said.

Another local business worker said he saw the crew hit the line and initial efforts to clear it with water, before a Con Edison repair crew arrived on scene.

“You could actually see it come out of the pipe,” the eyewitness said.

A spokesperson for the Village of Great Neck said the village’s Promenade Night, scheduled for that evening, went on as planned after air quality testing was conducted.

A foreman on the repair crew declined to comment for this article.

Reach reporter Dan Glaun by e-mail at dglaun@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516.307.1045 x203 and on Twitter @dglaun. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.

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