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This story was updated to include additional information from Yonkers officials Wednesday morning.
YONKERS, N.Y. Crews have capped the broken water main that has disrupted service for thousands of Yonkers residents, but service has not yet been restored, city officials said Wednesday morning.
A boil water alert will likely remain in effect for southwest Yonkers at least until Thursday. Mayor Mike Spano is expected to provide additional updates at a press briefing at 11:30 a.m. Also, the Saw Mill and Cross County parkways were re-opened early Wednesday morning. See full story.
On Tuesday night city officials said crews had been unable to fix a broken water main as hoped and that city residents would have to wait at least one more day before water service is fully restored.
The news was not good for an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 southwest Yonkers residents who had been left with limited or no water since early Monday afternoon.
Earlier Tuesday, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said the city was hopeful it would be able to restore water by 10 p.m. as crews were working around the clock to isolate and install a piece of replacement pipe that was needed to get the water system up and running.
But crews hit a snag as they tried to fit the piping in with existing pieces, officials said.
Monday afternoons broken water main, along the southbound Saw Mill River Parkway near Wendover Road, disrupted water service to an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 residents in southwest Yonkers. Officials have said a private contractor accidentally broke the 30-inch water main while installing fiber-optic cables.
Crews worked through the night Monday and into Tuesday, isolating the break and surveying the damage. Meanwhile, city officials have set up water distribution stations at several locations around southwest Yonkers and have handed out an estimated 8,000 bottles of water to senior citizens and nursing homes.
Southwest Yonkers residents are also being warned that a boil water advisory remains in effect until further notice.
The mayor's office said earlier Tuesday they were hopeful the problem could be fixed sometime Wednesday.
Maybe then "we can start to get our lives back to normal in Yonkers, Spano said Tuesday at an afternoon press conference.
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