Water was shut off to several buildings on Second Avenue between 85th and 83rd Streets after water burst out of a water main Thursday afternoon, according to officials. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Ethan Harfenist

UPPER EAST SIDE — Several buildings and business along a two-block stretch of Second Avenue were without water for several hours Thursday afternoon after a fitting on a replacement water main failed, according to MTA officials and sources.

The leak happened in the subway construction area at 84th Street and Second Avenue at about 2:57 p.m., sending water shooting into the air, according to the FDNY and witnesses. Water started to return to buildings at about 6:30 p.m.

"It was like a geyser,” said Iola Diplan, a waitress at the Hummus Kitchen on Second Avenue. “It was like an ocean before they got these tubes to suck it up.”

A MTA contractor was working on the main when the leak happened, according to official sources, and water would have to be shut off to buildings between 85th and 83rd streets for several hours while the pipe was repaired.

It was not immediately clear if all the buildings along the two block stretch were without water or how many buildings, if any, to the east and west of Second Avenue were impacted.

Luis Flores, who is the manager at the restaurant La Pulperia on Second Avenue between 84th and 85th streets, said the eatery would have lost up to five thousand dollars in business if it was forced to close for the night.