When telephone poles crack in half ...
At 4:45 p.m. Friday afternoon, when this Urbaniter walked by with her dog, the telephone pole on the northeast corner of North Ninth and Roebling streets in Williamsburg was intact.
By 5:30 p.m., after a quick trip to the McCarren Park dog run, it was cracked in half and hanging parallel to the street. A few stunned witnesses could say only, "it just cracked." Nothing rammed it. Lightning did not strike, it just cracked.
There were no injuries, but it sure was unnerving.
We didn't witness the actual breakage (if you did, please comment), but we can't help but wonder whether the drilling, razing and blasting coming from the construction site behind (yeah, the one with the big crane) had something to do with it.
That was the theory from this Time Warner guy on the scene anyway.
We've made calls to ConEd and Verizon about the break - and are still trying to figure out exactly what happened.
According to Con Edison spokesperson Elizabeth Clark, the pole belongs to Verizon. She was shocked by the photos. When asked if such breaks are usual, she said, "Something would have to cause it. They don’t just crack."
Verizon spokesman John Bonomo confirmed that his company responded to a call from Con Edison Friday afternoon in regards to the cracked pole, and shortly after, repaired it, but he could not immediately provide information on what caused the break.
Both spokespersons noted the poles are often shared between the power and phone companies and it's not unusal for all parties to communicate back and forth about who's responsible for what.
Clark said it's possible a ConEd crew in the area caught wind of the fractured pole and passed the news along to Verizon.
So, back to the phones and we'll report back when we dig up more on what might have caused the crack, and if it could happen to a pole near you.
- Lauren Johnston
