Fordham Public Safety announced that the Lincoln Center campus would close on Monday, Jan. 13, as a result of a water main break and street flooding at Broadway and 62nd Street in Manhattan.

At 7:55 a.m., Public Safety sent an alert that the Lincoln Center Campus would have a delayed opening until noon that day. About two hours after the first email, they sent an update that the campus would remain closed for the rest of the day.

According to the email, NYPD diverted traffic from the area around Lincoln Center and one or more subway lines to local stations were suspended.

Bob Howe, senior director of communications, said Fordham Public Safety and Facilities staff have been in continuous contact with New York City Emergency Management since the break occurred. He also said the streets around the Lincoln Center campus were impassable this morning due to flooding and that the campus temporarily lost water service and steam heat to several buildings as well.

“Of course, our primary concern is the safety and comfort of students, faculty and staff at Fordham,” said Howe. “We are glad that the situation appears to be resolved so quickly.”

Public Safety sent a third alert at 2:39 p.m. that said the campus would reopen at 5 p.m. for evening classes, that Ram Van service would resume on a normal schedule at 4 p.m. and that they anticipated a normal schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

“The decision to reopen is based upon consultation with New York City Emergency Management regarding the resumption of water service to campus via the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and the resumption of steam heat to several buildings either via ConEd or emergency boilers,” said the email to students and staff at Fordham announcing the reopening of the Lincoln Center campus.

One week later, on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 3:30 p.m., Public Safety sent a follow-up email listing issues that the water main break has caused to the Lincoln Center campus.
The email said the break caused significant damage to steam lines in the Lincoln Center neighborhood and, as a result, has caused residual issues to some of Fordham’s buildings.

“Fordham immediately ordered temporary boilers to heat both 140 West 62nd Street and Lowenstein Center for a period of time that Con Edison had assured us would be less than one week,” said the email.

Public Safety said the temporary boilers helped significantly, but Con Edison informed them that the damage to the steam lines was worse than anticipated.

“As a result, we now need a special high-pressure boiler to continue providing adequate heat, particularly to perimeter office spaces,” said the email. “Working with Con Edison, we have ordered this special boiler and will hook it up to our buildings as soon as it arrives.”

Public Safety apologized in the email for any inconvenience that the Lincoln Center community has endured and reassured the Fordham community that they are actively working to bring appropriate heat to every space at that campus.