Video: NYPD Officers Help Rescue Worker after 30-Foot Manhole Drop

NYPD's Emergency Service Unit was called in after a 35-year-old construction worker fell 30 feet down a manhole, and the unit lowered down an FDNY firefighter to reach the injured man.
Dec. 3, 2025
2 min read

What to know

• NYPD Emergency Service Unit officers used rope-rescue gear to retrieve a construction worker who fell about 30 feet into a manhole in Washington Heights.

• The unit and FDNY personnel coordinated the confined-space rescue, lowering responders and a backboard before lifting the injured worker to the surface.

• Medics transported the worker to a local hospital, where he was treated and released, according to police.

They then lowered an officer down into the darkened hole to find the construction worker on the ground below. Rungs on the side of the underground tunnel had rotted away near the bottom, making it difficult to climb down, someone said on the video.

ESU officers lowered down an FDNY firefighter and then a backboard before hoisting the injured construction worker back up.

“You’re good…he’s good,” an officer can be heard saying as the worker was handed off to city emergency medical technicians and paramedics.

EMS rushed the man to New York Presbyterian/ Columbia University Irving Medical Center where he was treated and released.

“One unexpected drop. One expert rescue,” the NYPD posted on X along with the bodycam footage. “When a construction worker fell through a manhole cover, @NYPDSpecialops ESU secured the scene, worked with @FDNY to safely reach him, and get them medical care.”

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