NEW YORK Trapped in the so-called “Frozen Zone” when a powerful steam pipe explosion shut down parts of midtown Manhattan, some restaurants in the area had yet to reopen as of Friday from the Wednesday evening blast. Others reported mass cancellations.
Rare Hospitality’s Capital Grille, Patina Restaurant Group’s Naples, Café Centro and Cucina and a host of fast-feeders and delis were either shut or serving a fraction of their normal daily traffic 48 hours after the city prohibited pedestrian and vehicular traffic within a 10-block radius of the 41st Street blast site.
Aspokeswoman for Rare Hospitality declined to discuss the financial impact of the two-day and indefinite closing of the company’s only unit in New York City. She said the company was at the mercy of the city and was waiting on directions from city officials. The Capital Grille operates in the base of the Chrysler Building, at 42nd and Lexington, just one block north of the calamity.
At Bobby Van’s steakhouse, just north of the blast site, a manager said nearly all of its dinner reservations for the weekend had been cancelled.
Patina Restaurant Group’s Naples, Cucina and Café Centro are all in the concourse of Grand Central Station, which was adjacent to the blast site. Vice president of operations Peter Wyss said the restaurants have come to a virtual standstill.
He noted that at the time of the 5:56 p.m. explosion, 250 people were scheduled to attend a private party at Naples. Only 50 showed up, he said.
Wyss said employers in the skyscraper above the restaurants ordered their employees to remain home until the city finished its atmospheric testing for asbestos.
One 50-year-old woman died from a heart attack while running from the 30-story geyser of steam that was released by the explosion. A 21-year-old tow truck driver was in critical condition with third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body when his truck fell into the crater. Another 15 or so pedestrians and drivers were treated and released.