Man dies falling through cellar grate in Brooklyn
Witness said metal doors opened up and he plunged 12 feet into the basement.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Sunday, January 18, 2015, 8:28 PM
Updated: Sunday, January 18, 2015, 10:38 PM
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THEODORE PARISIENNE/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSA pedestrian walking on Bedford Ave. died after he fell through this grate.
Every New Yorker’s worst nightmare came true for a man who plunged to his death through a Brooklyn cellar grate on Sunday, witnesses said.
The man, who cops said was in his 30s, was walking on Bedford Ave. near Herkimer St. at 3 p.m. when the metal doors leading to the basement of an abandoned building at 1281 Bedford Ave. collapsed under him, witnesses said.
Police would not immediately confirm the incident, but were seen removing the dead body from the cellar.
Richie McCray saw the death as it happened.
“The thing just opened. He was walking. He wasn't paying attention. The thing is loose. And he disappeared,” said McCray, 50, who added that the victim lived in a nearby shelter.
The city received 40 complaints for defective sidewalk cellar doors in 2014, and has received 19 so far in 2015, 311 data shows.
Under city law, property owners are held liable for any injuries or deaths resulting from improperly maintained cellar grates.
In 2009, a 10-year-old boy was injured when he plunged into the cellar of a vacant restaurant in Morningside Heights.
