New York City residents rely on utilities for many daily activities, from showers, to powering computer systems, and even operating life supporting systems.

On July 18, 2007, a geyser of steam and mud erupted almost 70 feet in the air near Grand Central Terminal around after a 24-inch steam pipe exploded beneath Lexington Avenue. The force of the explosion ripped a 40-foot hole in the street, flipped a nearby tow truck, and rained debris for blocks. Local hospitals treated a handful of New Yorkers for burns and one woman died from a heart attack believed to be induced by the explosion.

On Aug. 14-15, 2003, a widespread power outage gripped eight states from Michigan to New York and southern Ontario, Canada, leaving more than 50 million people in the dark for as many as 29 hours. In New York City, where losses from interruption to productivity and spoiled goods topped $1 billion, subway service ground to a halt, traffic snarled, workers spilled onto the streets, and commuters crowded City bridges in the initial hours of the outage.

Twice before in New York City history — in 1965 and 1977 — citywide blackouts resulted in civil disturbances and property losses in excess of $300 million. During the July 1999 heat wave, 200,000 customers in northern Manhattan lost power — some for up to 19 hours — and subway service was disrupted for rush hour.

And in July 2002, more than 60,000 Con Edison customers lost power in Manhattan's lower west side after a transformer fire erupted at a downtown plant. The outage lasted more than seven hours and disrupted subway service on six lines.

In January 1998, a 48-inch water main break in Manhattan's Flatiron district sent several hundred thousand gallons of water cascading through the nearby streets, causing a curb-to-curb road collapse, interrupting utility services to the block and snarling traffic. The break also caused a gas leak that eventually ignited, sending flames two stories high.