Though some believe walking over sidewalk grates can be a gamble, a Saturday accident in Tribeca outside of an Off-Track Betting parlor proved it.
Vincent Riggio, a 59-year-old businessman, was stepping out of the O.T.B. on Murray St. to smoke a cigar around 1:00 p.m. last Saturday. He stepped onto a rusted metal plate on the sidewalk that collapsed beneath him and fell 20 feet into the basement below. Riggio suffered a broken ankle and minor injuries, said a Fire Department spokesperson.
Riggio was helped from the hole in the sidewalk by the Fire Department’s rope rescue team, who hoisted him up to the paramedics that were waiting nearby. He was treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
— Jared T. Miller
