They’re steaming mad!
Dozens of Flatiron buildings that were evacuated when an asbestos-laden steam pipe exploded last week remained no-go zones on Monday — leaving many business owners, workers and residents fuming.
“We’ve had to cancel clients,” said Adlin Palencia, 38, the manager at Butterfly Hair Salon on Fifth Avenue — which lost a window in the blast and has had to temporarily relocate into another salon on East 60th Street. “It’s been very crazy and hectic.”
As many as 500 people who live or work in more than 40 buildings in the area were initially displaced when an old steam pipe burst Thursday at Fifth Avenue and 21st Street, spewing toxic, asbestos-laced dust through the streets.
Cleanup crews labored through the weekend to scrub and reopen the buildings, but by Monday evening, a Post investigation found dozens of properties were still inaccessible.
Many of the blocks around the blast zone remain blocked off to pedestrians or traffic — while the streets were instead filled with trucks marked, “DANGER: Asbestos.”
But even businesses allowed to reopen say the area is still a ghost town and all their customers have gone up in smoke.
“There’s no traffic, no one coming into the store,” said Tina Burk, the bookkeeper at J&M Hardware on East 21st Street. “A lot of our customers are the people that live in the area. All of our friends on the block are hurting, too.”
Burk estimates the store is losing between $500 and $1,000 a day.
Meanwhile, a parking garage at 10 West 21st St. was technically open, but virtually inaccessible due to heavy cleanup machinery in front of it.
“Nobody’s getting in here,” a lone parking attendant said with a shrug.
Con Ed is offering residents a $500 reimbursement for their troubles — but says those affected can also submit claims for additional expenses.
Among those who’ve lost some serious dough are the area’s many eateries — including dozens that were still shuttered Monday.
“I’ve been afraid to look at the numbers,” Bruno Paciullo, owner of West 21st Street Italian restaurant Zero Otto Nove, told food blog Eater. “Between business that was lost and food that goes unsold, it’s a lot.”
Toby’s Estate Coffee, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, Roki Le Izakaya and Bouley at Home were all still closed, too, according to the Web site.
And those that have been able to stay open say customers are hardly clamoring for steak with a side of asbestos dust.
The owner of 21st Street Lebanese-Armenian joint Almayass told Eater he suffered a 70 percent drop in customers over the weekend.
Melissa Magal says she’s still building her forthcoming West 20th Street cafe, Gotan — but the building and street are still closed, delaying construction.
“Every day is a horror,” said Magal, 54. “A lot of money is being lost. We are tying to open. Everyday we are losing thousands of dollars. I need to know when I can send my workers in there to get things finished.”
But area businesses say it’s still unclear what kind of compensation they’ll be eligible to claim.
“If there was a loss of food, for instance, there may be some kind of restitution or compensation for that,” Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Business Improvement District executive director Jennifer Brown told Eater.
“But we don’t know exactly what those resources are going to be yet.”
Staffers who lost shifts due to the blast said it had also blown up their personal finances.
Sheila Sanchez, a worker at a Maison Kayser outlet on Broadway that reopened Saturday, said the blast closure left her struggling to make ends meet.
“I had to come here and no one paid for my MetroCard,” the 22-year-old worker said. “I don’t have the money.”
Meanwhile, many residents remained out of home as well.
“There’s asbestos all over so I’m not touching that building until it is fully clear,” Paul, a 21st Street resident who wouldn’t give his last name, told The Post.
“I’ll probably be filing a claim later on,” he added. “For me it’s not that big of a deal. Fortunately it was over the weekend. For others, it’s probably a nightmare.”
Additional reporting by Kenneth Garger and Cedar Attanasio