"Water Stream Like a Waterfall"…Water Pouring from a High-Rise Building in the Heart of New York

Massive Water Flowing from Windows of High-Rise Building in Manhattan
Local Media Reports "Building Fire Pump Test"

A massive amount of water poured out from a high-rise building in downtown New York City, resembling a waterfall.

On the 4th (local time), the New York Post and other outlets reported that this incident occurred at a high-rise building in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York. The scene was quickly posted on social media. In the video, a huge stream of water, like a waterfall, gushes out from the building's window, falling down toward the street below.

On the 4th (local time), a massive stream of water was gushing out of a window of a high-rise building in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, USA. [Image source=Social Networking Service (SNS) capture]

At around 12:15 PM that day, the New York Fire Department responded to the report and shut off the building's water supply. The water flow stopped around 12:30 PM, about 15 minutes later. It is known that the water poured out for about 30 minutes, and there were no casualties. The New York Fire Department only stated that the situation was resolved without any issues around 2 PM but did not provide specific details about the cause of the incident.

Two days later, on the 6th, local media ABC7 New York reported that this was not an accident but a fire pump test for the building. Citing statements from the building authorities, the media explained that scheduled fire pump tests were conducted on the 19th and 32nd floors of the building, which included spraying water outside the building. Generally, such tests are conducted at night, but in this case, it was done during the day because most of the water was planned to fall within the property boundaries.

An official stated, "This test is one of the basic items in the new development inspection process and does not pose any danger to the public." However, many New Yorkers who witnessed the vivid sight of large amounts of water pouring outside the building without knowing this fact expressed surprise, saying, "I've lived in New York all my life, but I've never seen anything like this," and "It was like a waterfall." The building passed the fire pump test.