The woman who fell through a sidewalk grate on the Upper East Side is happy to be alive. Ulanda Williams, 31, told the Post that the collapse occurred nearly immediately as she tried to seek shelter from the rain on Friday night: "I was standing there approximately 10 seconds and when that occurred, I just fell right through."
The sidewalk vault outside of 301 East 60th Street gave way, and Williams fell about five to seven feet. Williams, a social worker, also said that her 400-pound frame (she's also 6'5") was helpful, "Thank God, they said that my size was the only thing that saved me... It was horrible, absolutely horrible. It happened so instantly that I didn’t even recognize anything. Cement was all over me, debris. They had a bed frame down there, broken pipes and wood pieces. It was a hollow place."
According to the Post, "Further investigation revealed defective steel doors leading to the vault, and a first-floor staircase was loose." The Department of Buildings fined the building's owner, for failing to maintain the vault, but the owner told the Post, "The city, I know, is constantly doing work in that area. I don’t know if they excavated anything next to my property. I know they’re always working on Second Avenue."
