The Aging City

(Updated, March 14 7:30 a.m.) Walking to the 125th Street subway after work this afternoon, my thoughts were with those affected by the trauma in East Harlem today.
Around 9:30 a.m. this morning, an explosion near the vicinity of 116th and Park Avenue leveled two buildings, killing 8 people and wounding dozens more.
The explosion was apparently due to a gas leak.
The fire and smoke was intense. We could smell the smoke inside our granite and marble building many blocks to the west.
Given the age of the city and its precarious infrastructure, I thought about the city, too.

The underlying things that make the city work are showing their age -
subway signals, sewer lines, roads, bridges, gas pipes.
 The superficial life of the new city is what gets most of the attention.
Until something like this happens.
View of a rainy 125th Street in Harlem from the elevated platform of the 1 train.