Pipe Bursts Dashing Hopes for a Warm Motzei Shabbos Chanukah Concert for Hundreds

by M.C. Millman

After a pipe burst at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton close to the end of Shabbos Chanukah, eight hundred guests who were there for a weekend getaway arranged to benefit Tomchei Shabbos of Pelham Parkway were forced out in the cold.

The highlight of the weekend was slated to be the motzei Shabbos Joey Newcomb concert. The concert was a washout because of the pipe that burst due to freezing temperatures. As the emergency sprinkler system was no longer functioning, authorities has to force the evacuation of the entire hotel.

Staff reported water coming out of the ceiling, according to News 12, as the leak started on the fourth floor with water pouring down to the first floor.

A Rockland Daily reader shared the following text from her daughter, "5 pm today, just as I gave tz back to babysitter, the fire alarm went off. Had no clue where tz and Eli were, found them then we were all forced to stay in the dining room til 7:15 with the fire alarm going off for over 2 hours. A pipe burst and there are floods everywhere. The police came in and said one representative from each family has 5 minutes to get essentials from their room in the pitch black and must evacuate the hotel, and it's 10 degrees out now, and we dunno where we're headed. They're shutting off the power to the whole hotel now, army style."

Both Hatzoloh of Rockland County and Chaverim of Rockland County responded to the motzei Shabbos call to assist in the evacuation. The call came in moments after the zman. Chaverim of Rockland arranged for numerous school buses to be on location to accommodate the 800 guests due to the frigid weather.