What to Know
- A man is recovering after a harrowing ordeal in which he found himself being swallowed by the ground, after a sinkhole suddenly opened up on a Bronx sidewalk over the weekend, prompting him to fall nearly a dozen feet as he waited for a bus.
- However, it was what he saw next that he said was scarier than the fall itself, according to his mother, who spoke exclusively to News 4 New York.
- Shoulders was waiting for A bus on 3rd Avenue in the Bronx on Saturday across from Saint Barnabas Hospital at the moment the sidewalk caved in.
A man is recovering after a harrowing ordeal in which he found himself being swallowed by the ground, after a sinkhole suddenly opened up on a Bronx sidewalk over the weekend, prompting him to fall nearly a dozen feet as he waited for a bus.
However, it was what he saw next that he said was scarier than the fall itself, according to his mother, who spoke exclusively to News 4 New York.
A temporary fence is now up as crews fix the hole where the scary scene unfolded, mere feet away from a busy bus stop. A bus stop that sees people walk by, stand by, and wait by for their ride daily -- exactly what Leonard Shoulders was doing when the sidewalk suddenly opened up.
Shoulders was waiting for a bus on 3rd Avenue in the Bronx on Saturday across from Saint Barnabas Hospital at the moment the sidewalk caved in.
“It could have been anyone. It could have been anyone it was a whole scary situation. It was my son and thank God he’s alive," Cindy White, Shoulders' mother, told News 4 New York.
Shoulders' mother still can't believe what happened to her son. In surveillance video, one can see Shoulders standing on the corner when the sidewalk opens and he falls. He tries to hold on but can’t, ultimately plunging 12 to 15 feet below the sidewalk as concrete and debris rained onto his head.
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"He went down feet first," White said. "He was just standing and the sidewalk just -- It was like a suction. Like a sinkhole. He just went down.”
White went on to say that her son is traumatized following his fall.
“He is traumatized. He said he went straight down. He said he was just falling, falling. But the debris was falling and hitting him in the head," White said.
The surveillance video shows people looking down into the hole after Shoulders' fall, asking him to wave his hands and scream if he is OK.
They see him wave his hands, but Shoulders refuses to scream for help. His mother told News 4 New York why.
“He was like, 'Ma, the rats down there were ridiculous.' He was like, 'they were like so big.' He was scared to yell out because he thought they were gonna go in his mouth,” she said.
Police and firefighters arrived and got to work, spending nearly half an hour to carefully pull Shoulders out.
Meanwhile, his mother is thankful her son survived the fall, but wants to know what caused the sidewalk to open up and swallow her son.
“He's alive. Thank God," White said.
Following the incident, building inspectors found the area beneath the sidewalk in disrepair. Three businesses remain closed until further notice due to the sinkhole.
According to the Department of Buildings, their investigation into this incident is ongoing.
"Potential enforcement actions are pending the results of that investigation," the DOB said, adding: "The Full Vacate Order is still in effect, and a construction fence has been erected around the building in the interest of public safety."
