After Heavy Rains, a Sinkhole Opens in the Bronx

A sinkhole appeared in the Bronx on Monday as rain and high winds rolled through New York City, growing throughout the evening and swallowing a parked van.

At about 58 feet long, 15 feet wide and 20 feet deep, the hole had room for plenty more. It opened in the Morris Park neighborhood along Radcliff Avenue and Pierce Avenue about 4:15 p.m., according to the Fire Department. No injuries were reported.

The sinkhole damaged a water main, cutting service to 70 homes; all but 20 had it restored by Tuesday morning. Water was being provided to residents at two city-run Water on the Go fountains in the area.

“The investigation into the root cause of the roadway collapse is ongoing,” said Edward Timbers, a spokesman with the city’s environmental protection department. “The weather certainly could have played a part of it.”

The city was battered by heavy downpours on Monday, leading to flight delays and grounded planes at all three of the region’s major airports and impacting subway service in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Neighborhoods in Manhattan recorded between one to two inches of rainfall on Monday, while Fordham, in the Bronx, recorded about 3.35 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms on Monday preceded what is forecast to be a week of scorching temperatures in the city and other parts of the Northeast. The Weather Service issued a heat advisory Tuesday morning for southeast New York, southern Connecticut and New Jersey, with heat index values expected to reach about 100 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday.

Sinkholes are relatively rare in New York City, but the increased frequency of rainstorms in recent years may be testing the city’s infrastructure. After two sinkholes opened up a week apart in Manhattan last summer, the city’s environmental protection commissioner said that the number of sinkholes recorded each year in the city had actually declined, in part because the city has invested heavily in shoring up its underground infrastructure.

Mr. Timbers on Tuesday confirmed that trend. “Roadway collapses are not more frequent,” he said.

For now, the sinkhole in the Bronx is being backfilled to stabilize the road as investigations into the cause continue, Mr. Timbers said. The street is closed to traffic, and repairs could take several weeks, he added.

As for the van, it was lifted out of the sinkhole on Tuesday morning and appeared to have survived the fall.

“The owner got inside, started it right up and drove off,” Mr. Timbers said.

Ana Ley contributed reporting.