Gothamist76%
Woman dies after falling down Con Edison manhole in Midtown, police say 27%
By Brittany Kriegstein73%
5/19/2026, 11:48:53 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 9 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Appeal to Authority, and Anchoring Bias, with Appeal to Emotion as the most egregious example at 20% saturation with 46 hits. Analysis detected 249 faulty-reasoning hits from 230 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 38.3% and a BS Rank of 27% (12,345 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 73.40% of the article peer group.
A woman died after falling about 10 feet down an open Con Edison manhole in Midtown on Monday night, NYPD officials said.
Police said the 56-year-old appeared to have parked her car near the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 52nd Street, got out and plummeted down the manhole.
Officers were called to the scene around 11:15 p.m. and found her unconscious, according to officials.
First responders took the woman to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
The NYPD did not immediately release her identity as it worked to notify her family.
Officials said they were still investigating why the manhole was uncovered.
They said no construction was happening at the intersection at the time, and the manhole cover was discovered about 15 feet away from the opening.
Con Ed spokesperson Elisabeth Ferrari said the utility company was “actively investigating” how the woman fell into one of its manholes.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the public has died after falling into an open manhole,” she said in a statement.
“Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, and safety remains our top priority.”
City medical examiners will determine the woman’s cause of death, according to police.
This story is based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.