{"id":1948,"date":"2026-05-19T20:42:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T20:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/19\/new-york-woman-dies-after-stepping-out-of-car-into-open-manhole\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T20:42:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T20:42:05","slug":"new-york-woman-dies-after-stepping-out-of-car-into-open-manhole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=1948","title":{"rendered":"New York woman dies after stepping out of car into open manhole"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"12bcf4df-b3b2-479d-a817-d5c43851bb9e\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A silhouetted figure crosses a misty New York street with steam rising from a manhole cover\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/de94dc7fa4226eba2e1af9ac9393a40e14f49362\/0_0_4972_3144\/master\/4972.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"294.03861625100564\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Steam rises from a sewer as a man crosses 6th Avenue on 1 February 2019 in New York City.<\/span> Photograph: Gary Hershorn\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"12bcf4df-b3b2-479d-a817-d5c43851bb9e\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Steam rises from a sewer as a man crosses 6th Avenue on 1 February 2019 in New York City.<\/span> Photograph: Gary Hershorn\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">New York woman dies after stepping out of car into open manhole <\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Family seeks answers after incident at uncovered maintenance hole near Cartier building late at night<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2026\/feb\/17\/sign-up-for-the-breaking-news-us-email-to-get-newsletter-alerts-direct-to-your-inbox?utm_medium=ACQUISITIONS_STANDFIRST&amp;utm_campaign=BN22326&amp;utm_content=signup&amp;utm_term=standfirst&amp;utm_source=GUARDIAN_WEB\" data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The family of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/new-york\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">New York<\/a> woman is struggling for answers after the 56-year-old fell to her death upon stepping out of her car and slipping down an open maintenance hole on Manhattan\u2019s Fifth Avenue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The woman in question died on Monday night and was identified by family members as Donike Gocaj, from Briarcliff Manor, a commuter belt area north of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/new-york\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">New York<\/a> City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Police say she parked her Mercedes-Benz SUV at West 52nd and Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan just before 11.20pm. She had stepped out of the car and directly into the maintenance hole in front of the Cartier mansion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Gocaj fell down about 10ft (3m), and steam caused her to go into cardiac arrest. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The New York television station, WABC, <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/post\/woman-dead-falling-uncovered-manhole-midtown-nyc\/19129645\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">spoke<\/a> to her family members, who said they were saddened and shocked by her sudden death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The city\u2019s electric utility provider, Con Edison, is investigating why the maintenance hole was left uncovered since no construction was going on nearby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The maintenance hole cover was found about 15ft from the opening. Authorities are reportedly looking into the possibility that a truck ran over it and caused it to dislodge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole,\u201d Con Edison said in a statement. \u201cWe are actively investigating how this occurred.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cOur thoughts are with the individual\u2019s family, and safety remains our top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">New York\u2019s department of environmental protection, which is responsible for maintenance holes connected to the sewers, says it has received more than 700 service requests for missing covers during the year so far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Injuries or deaths related to open maintenance holes are relatively rare. Nonetheless, open maintenance holes are an urban nightmare akin to being hit by falling masonry, scaffolding, an air conditioner, getting pushed on subway tracks, a lightning strike or other such event.<\/p>\n<figure data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.NewsletterSignupBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\">\n<div data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-ri3hap\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A 17-year-old college student was struck and killed by falling masonry in 1979 on Broadway near West 115th Street in New York City, one of the world\u2019s most populated and visited places. That death prompted mandatory facade inspections and reshaped scaffolding requirements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But maintenance holes remain an issue. In 2019, a man who was unhoused was found dead in such a hole in Manhattan two weeks after he fell into it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/35574684\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">A 2022 study <\/a>then found that, from 2007 to 2017, 388 trauma patients fell into a maintenance hole nationally, or 20 to 49 a year. One percent of those died as a result, according to the study.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/new-york\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">New York<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=New%20York%20woman%20dies%20after%20stepping%20out%20of%20car%20into%20open%20manhole%20&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/new-york-manhole-death-manhattan?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F19%2Fnew-york-manhole-death-manhattan&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/new-york-manhole-death-manhattan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steam rises from a sewer as a man crosses 6th Avenue on 1 February 2019 in New York<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}