• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 20, 2007

Technically speaking, Madison Avenue is one block west of a multi-block area in the heart of Manhattan that New York City officials have cordoned off as the "frozen zone" in the aftermath of an underground steam pipe explosion that spewed steam and debris like a volcanic eruption in Midtown Wednesday, and left a 25-foot-wide crater in the street and city officials worried about the possibility of carcinogenic asbestos in the air. It also displaced hundreds of ad industry executives from their places of business.

The American Association of Advertising Agencies' offices, headquartered in New York's famed Chrysler Building, was closed Thursday, and the trade association sent out an email alert to members alerting them that it would not be able to "answer rush research requests or overnight book orders" for the foreseeable future.

The New York headquarters of McCann Worldgroup and media unit Universal McCann were also locked down in the "frozen zone," although McCann executives were networking Thursday via email and Web access.

New York City officials froze residents and workers in buildings between 40th and 43rd Streets and between Vanderbilt and Third Avenue in Manhattan. While most New York-based agencies are now diffused throughout Manhattan, the steam pipe explosion created havoc in the blocks surrounding the area and disrupted many of the advertising and media industry professionals who commute through Grand Central Terminal.