Stopping Traffic

1989 Print Ad

On September 3rd, 1989, a broken main stripped nearly 50 pounds of asbestos from two underground steam pipes in midtown Manhattan and scattered the cancer-causing substance over a half-mile stretch of Eighth Avenue. New York City declared a health emergency, shut down subways and other traffic in the area, closed businesses along the avenue and urged residents to seal their windows and either remain indoors or evacuate their apartments for 24 hours. We, however, saw an opening and took it.