Repair crews are now at work on a sinkhole that opened up on Livonia Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, less than 24 hours after the street collapsed on Tuesday. The work got underway after crews had to wait out the weather before they could safely begin.
At the scene, about six workers could be seen inside a large hole in the middle of the street, drilling with the help of an excavator. The sinkhole sits right beneath the elevated train tracks, and the surrounding stretch of Livonia Avenue, just outside the Tilden Houses, remains closed to traffic.
The closure runs along Livonia Avenue between Rockaway Avenue and Mother Gaston Boulevard. Crews with the city are working to stabilize the roadway, a job that has drawn steady noise and activity to the block through the morning.
According to neighbors, it all started Tuesday just before 9 a.m., when residents heard a loud boom and watched the street give way. The sinkhole then grew larger throughout the day, prompting the city to shut down that section of Livonia Avenue.
Work had been expected to begin the day the sinkhole opened, but crews said the steady rain made it too dangerous to start. With conditions improving, the repairs are now moving forward, though the road remains blocked off while the work continues.
Some people who live in the area say the collapse did not come out of nowhere. They told News 12 they had been worried about the spot for weeks, and described an earlier incident in which a manhole in the area exploded, which they found alarming.
A foreman on site said he did not know exactly how long the repairs would take, estimating anywhere from two days to two weeks depending on what crews find beneath the street. For now, the stretch of Livonia Avenue stays closed to drivers until the work is finished.