A fatal accident on Manhattan’s iconic Fifth Avenue has shaken New York City this week, after a 56-year-old woman fell 10 feet (three meters) into an unmarked, open maintenance hole and later succumbed to her injuries. The New York Police Department confirmed that first responders were dispatched to the scene shortly before midnight on Monday, following an emergency call from witnesses. When officers arrived, they found the victim, identified by family to national media as Donike Gocaj, a resident of Briarcliff Manor, New York, unconscious and non-responsive at the bottom of the open manhole.
Gocaj was quickly transported to a nearby hospital for emergency care, but medical staff were unable to save her, and she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Local utility giant Con Edison, which oversees maintenance work on many of the city’s utility access holes, has opened an internal probe to determine why the structure was left uncovered and unprotected. In an official statement given to media partner CBS, the company expressed profound regret over the tragedy. “We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole,” the statement read. “We are actively investigating how this occurred. Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, and safety remains our top priority.” The BBC has reached out to Con Edison for additional updates on the ongoing investigation, as of Tuesday.
Grieving family members spoke to reporters at the accident site Tuesday, saying they are still struggling to comprehend how the preventable tragedy could happen. Gocaj’s daughter-in-law, speaking through visible emotion, told reporters that no safety cones, warning signage, or physical barriers had been placed around the open hole to alert pedestrians of the hazard.
NYPD officials confirmed that the investigation remains active, though investigators have not found any evidence of criminal involvement in the incident. The city’s medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to formally confirm the exact cause of Gocaj’s death.
Fatal falls into open manholes are not an unprecedented risk in New York City, where aging public infrastructure spans hundreds of square miles. According to the official website of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the agency manages the entire municipal water and wastewater network, which includes more than thousands of miles of sewer lines and roughly 100,000 active manholes across the five boroughs. The New York Times reports that as of mid-2026, the department has already received more than 700 formal service requests related to unsecured, open manholes just this year, highlighting the persistent scope of the public safety issue.