over Con Edison, or breaking it up and deregulating it. New York State Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, a Democrat whose district in the Astoria section of Queens was affected by the 2006 blackout, said Con Edison should be forced to compete for the right to manage the city's power infrastructure and should be subject to annual audits by the New York Public Service Commission. On December 27, 2007, in response to the report by the utility, New York City Councilman Eric Gioia criticized the company for identifying the city as potentially responsible for the blast in an October court filing laying the groundwork for a possible future lawsuit. That notice of claim said city sewers, pipes and drains could have leaked cold water onto the hot steam pipe. Gioa's statement said, "they'll do anything they can to deflect blame and avoid taking responsibility, but now this report shows that Con Ed's poor maintenance contributed to this deadly explosion." In Boston, Massachusetts, which has a network of steam distribution pipes operated by Veolia Energy Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino used the event in New York to push for proposed state legislation regulating commercial steam distribution systems that was progressing slowly. A young boy was severely burned two months earlier by a burst steam pipe in that city. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which has a network of more than of steam pipes operated by Veolia Energy Philadelphia, there has not been a serious incident in that city in the past 18 years—in 1989, a steam explosion at 15th and Wood Streets sent debris into the air damaging some cars. In the wake of the New York event, present and past city officials credited the utility for the extended period of safe operations. See also New York City steam system District heating Water hammer References External links Raw surveillance footage of the street moments before the steam pipe explosion. Video of erupting steam looking westward from 41st Street and Third Avenue. Explosions in 2007 Disasters in New York City 2007 disasters in the United States Industrial fires and explosions in the United States Steam explosion Consolidated Edison July 2007 events in the United States 2000s in Manhattan Midtown Manhattan