By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — A man fell nearly 20 feet through a sidewalk grate into a pit in front of The New School's Greenwich Village campus Wednesday afternoon, police on the scene said.
The man, who is a gardener for the school, was planting flowers in front of the Eugene Lang College building at 65 West 11th St. when he fell through the grate just after 2:00 p.m., police on the scene said.
A witness said he heard the man’s calls for help.
“I heard the grate screech and the man call for help,” said a New School staff member, who did not want to be named. “A security guard called for help right away.”
Robert Mirfield, an NYPD emergency medical technician, and another officer were lowered by rope into the 3 feet by 12 feet space the man had fallen into.
They found the man entangled in the grate and helped to extract him and bring him to the surface.
The man, who was described as in his early 40s, was transported to Bellevue Medical Center with apparent leg and ankle injuries, police said.
“His lower leg and ankle were definitely deformed,” said Mirfield. “He was visibly in a lot of pain, but he was alert and conscious. He should be okay.”
New School faculty member, Elaine Savory, who heard about the incident on campus but did not witness it, said, “I am always careful about grates. I walk out of my way to go around them. This confirms my paranoia.”
The New School said the man was an independent landscaping contractor and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on campus safety.
