Some buildings remained crippled on Tuesday, including 62 West 62nd Street, a 27-story condo with 120 units, whose basement was flooded, curtailing elevator service, running water, heat and trash disposal for perhaps three days, said a longtime resident Andrew Farber.

He said he ordered a large delivery of bottled water to give to residents who have remained in the chilly building.

At Lincoln Plaza Tower, the garage’s two upper parking levels — and a Bentley parked there — were spared, but there were more than 30 cars on the level below, and perhaps as many more on the level below that, that had been completely submerged. That lowest level was still partly underwater.

The water main break occurred a short block from the Lincoln Plaza Tower at 44 West 62nd Street, which has high-end units currently on the market for asking prices up to $5 million.

The broken pipe flooded parts of Broadway and Columbus Avenue, roughly from West 61st Street into West 65th.

“The most important thing is that nobody was hurt — property damage is not the end of the world,” said Mr. Groll, the co-op board president at Lincoln Plaza Tower. “It will be a little inconvenient. All things being equal, it could have been much worse.”

“It’s certainly a painful day, but it’s just property,” he said.

The break brought a lake of brown water lapping at the steps of Lincoln Center and an army of emergency response vehicles to the area. The water was up to a foot deep in some places.