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Mill Basin Woman Falls Into Sidewalk Sink Hole
Faye Brod had just driven up to her house on East 55th Street, between avenues M and N, at about 5:45 p.m. and, along with her two nephews, ages 3 and 5, was bringing groceries in the front door. When she made sure the children were inside, she went back to retrieve two bags of groceries, but when she stepped on the sidewalk it gave way, sending her plummeting. Witnesses and neighbors called 911 and firefighters arrived within minutes. "When we got there, she was in a sitting position with a slab of concrete up to her waist," said Fire Lieutenant Kevin McCabe. Firefighter James McNulty, who jumped into the hole to help Mrs. Brod, said, "She was conscious and in a lot of pain." He told a press conference afterwards that he tried to talk to her, seeing her purse and the two bags of groceries near her. "I told her, 'It's a heck of a night to go out shopping'." He then removed the concrete from her body, affixed a neck and back brace and, together with the other firefighters, helped pull her out of the hole. She was taken to Brookdale Hospital by Emergency Medical Service paramedics. McNulty said her injuries did not appear to be life threatening. Mrs. Joanne Sabine, who lives next door to the site of the sink hole, said the homes there were built in the early 1930s and, on the east side of the street - where the sidewalk gave way - there were trees at one time. "I don't know whether it had anything to do with it," she said, "but the whole side of the street had trees a few years ago. Now there are none." Workers from the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were at the site through the night and into the following morning, but they would not divulge whether they could come up with a reason for the sidewalk to sink.
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