This Robert Stolank photograph for the New York Times, taken at the scene of last night’s Lexington Avenue steam pipe explosion, is very similar to what Hachette Book Group employees must have seen when they ran to the windows after hearing the blast, at least after the massive cloud of steam evaporated. (Author M.J. Rose was just two blocks north of the expolosion, and has a ground-level perspective.) I was sitting at a bar downtown, having long ago arranged drinks with a contact at Hachette when I heard the staff discussing the news; my friend walked in a few minutes later and described how her boss had calmly organized the department and led them down fifteen flights of stairs and outside the building, although the elevators never stopped running—while other employees stayed behind to watch the scene unfold below. The evacuation went largely without incident, although my friend did manage to injure herself; reaching into her handbag to find her cell phone, she inadvertently dragged her pinky finger along the edge of a razor blade, pulling back the bandage at our mutual drinking companion’s prompting.
Fortunately, that appears to have been the only injury to any Hachette employees during the incident and its aftermath.* Still, since they all had to go out on the street whenever they left the building, it’s worth noting the advice of city officials to discard whatever clothes you were wearing yesterday and bathe carefully in order to avoid any possible asbestos contamination from the materials that constituted the debris. According to the Times, they also suggest people in nearby buildings “close windows and set air-conditioners to recirculate the air inside instead of drawing in air from outside.” Given the forecast for today, I don’t imagine anybody needs to be told twice.
*Please let us know if I’m wrong.