One of Consolidated Edison’s outside lobbying firms could be finding it harder to fight on behalf of the embattled power company, what with one of its offices being closed because of a steam pipe explosion last week.

A voice message yesterday at the Midtown offices of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, a law firm that has handled legislation for Con Edison, told callers that, “as a result of a steam pipe explosion in New York City, there is currently no access to the firm’s New York City office.”

On the same day, local officials called on Con Edison to reimburse businesses that have been closed since last Wednesday following the explosion of a pipe controlled by the utility.

It was unclear whether the law firm would seek extra compensation from its client after being displaced from the Socony-Mobil Building on 42nd Street for the past three business days.

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg acknowledged the hardships borne by businesses, which range from delis suffering as foot traffic has been restricted in the area to global firms that have had to move workers to alternate work sites.

He said the frozen zone had been reduced to the blocks between 42nd and 40th streets and Park and Third avenues, but said it would probably take at least a week to finish the cleanup.

“Because safety is our no. 1 priority, it’s taking time,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

A Con Edison spokesman, Robert McGee, said the company was investigating the cause of the blast, a process he said was “going very slowly,” as workers deal with asbestos found in some of the debris.

Two people were still in the hospital yesterday with injuries sustained in the blast, a NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital spokeswoman said yesterday.

A Brooklyn resident, Francine Dorf, has filed the first lawsuit against Con Edison following the steam explosion. She claims that she was traumatized by the blast, which she said reminded her of her sister’s death in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Mr. McGee said the power company was accepting claims for damaged food and merchandise and clean-up costs, but not for business interruption.

He said he knew nothing of the lobbyists’ predicament, and a partner at the firm did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Current state law does not require the utility to reimburse revenue lost because of business closures, something Assemblyman Michael Gianaris is hoping to change with legislation announced this week.

After hearing that one of Con Edison’s lobbyists might be among the beneficiaries of such a law, Mr. Gianaris laughed.

“It’s rather ironic, obviously,” he said.