U.S. News
A Woman Fell To Her Death in an Open Manhole in Manhattan
By Erica Coleman · May 19, 2026
A 30-year-old woman is dead after falling into an open manhole on a Midtown Manhattan street Monday night, the NYPD confirmed Tuesday.
The woman fell into the uncovered manhole on West 45th Street near 6th Avenue at approximately 11:30 PM. Emergency responders were called to the scene, and the woman was transported to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead from her injuries.
The NYPD has not yet confirmed the woman’s identity or the circumstances that led to the manhole being uncovered and unguarded at that hour. It is unclear whether the manhole had been left open by a utility crew working in the area or whether a cover had been removed and not properly secured.
The Department of Buildings and the Department of Transportation, which share jurisdiction over street infrastructure in New York City, have not yet commented publicly on the incident. An investigation into the circumstances of the open manhole is ongoing.
Open manholes on New York City streets are supposed to be secured and marked before workers leave a site. Standard protocol requires that uncovered manholes be ringed with safety cones, barriers, or temporary covers when active work is not being conducted — procedures designed specifically to prevent what happened Monday night. Whether those protocols were followed, and by whom, is central to the investigation.
New York City has more than 300,000 manholes across its five boroughs, providing access to the underground infrastructure of water, sewer, and utility systems that runs beneath its streets. Con Edison, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and several telecommunications companies all maintain manholes and are responsible for their condition and security. Open or improperly secured manholes have caused injuries and deaths in New York City in prior years, typically resulting in civil liability for the responsible party.
The block where the woman fell — West 45th Street near 6th Avenue in the heart of Midtown — is one of the busiest pedestrian corridors in the city, with foot traffic at all hours. An uncovered manhole at 11:30 PM on a street with consistent pedestrian activity represents a serious failure of whatever safety protocols were supposed to be in place.
An investigation is ongoing. The woman’s family has been notified. No charges have been filed as of Tuesday morning.