Bystanders’ 911 calls warned of ‘multiple’ open Midtown manholes before Donike Gocaj’s NYC fall

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: New details have emerged in the investigation into the fatal Midtown Manhattan manhole incident that resulted in the death of Donike Gocaj, after bystanders said they had reported hazardous open manholes near the same area weeks before the tragedy.

Gocaj died on Monday, May 18, after falling into an uncovered Con Edison utility hole near Fifth Avenue and East 52nd Street.

Authorities later ruled her death an accident caused by thermal injuries and blunt force trauma. City agencies and Con Edison are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

911 calls warned of dangerous Midtown manholes

Artist and nonprofit founder Rhonda Roland Shearer said she contacted 911 on May 3 after spotting what she described as a dangerously displaced manhole cover along Fifth Avenue near St Thomas Church, close to where Gocaj later fell.

Shearer said the partially open cover appeared unsafe for pedestrians walking through the area and that she requested emergency responders secure it. “I said, ‘Oh my God, this is, in great likelihood, the same cover. Or multiple covers in the same area,’” Shearer said after learning about Gocaj’s death.

Shearer said the situation immediately stood out as a public safety concern. “People were just walking by. Immediately, the grandmother in me thought this is very, very dangerous,” she said.

Her son, Jade Allen, who was with her that afternoon, said the manhole cover appeared stuck open at roughly a 45-degree angle. “I feel like it’s something that could have been corrected,” Allen said.

According to sources, another person contacted 311 the following day to report a skewed or missing manhole cover in the area. The caller was later transferred to 911, after which police reportedly responded and repositioned the cover. 

Medical examiner rules Donike Gocaj’s death accidental

The incident occurred shortly after 11:19 pm Monday when Gocaj stepped out of her parked Mercedes-Benz SUV near Fifth Avenue and East 52nd Street and fell approximately 10 feet into the uncovered manhole.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Gocaj died from “scald burns with inhalational thermal injury and blunt force trauma of torso.” Her death was ruled an accident.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also issued a statement expressing condolences to Gocaj’s family and confirming that city agencies are working with Con Edison to determine how the incident happened.

“Our condolences are with the family of the woman who lost her life in this devastating incident,” the statement said. “Every question must be asked and answered so that no New Yorker experiences a tragedy like this again.”