Woman Dies After Falling Into Open Manhole on East 52nd Street

M. Monday. A witness said Gocaj dropped into the steaming-hot 10-foot-deep hole and screamed "I'm dying" as bystanders tried to reach her. The city medical examiner ruled Wednesday that she died of scald burns with thermal injuries from breathing in hot air or steam, along with blunt force trauma to her torso.

Roland Shearer, an artist and nonprofit founder, told The Post on Wednesday that she spotted a dangerously ajar manhole cover along Fifth Avenue on May 3 while walking from nearby St. Thomas Church. She called 911 to request that the FDNY cover the hole.

Shearer said she was shocked to learn about Gocaj’s death around the corner just weeks later. "I said, ‘Oh my God, this is, in great likelihood, the same cover. Or multiple covers in the same area,’" she said. One day after Shearer and her son Jade Allen spotted the manhole cover, another bystander placed a 311 call to report another skewed or missing lid, sources said.

The caller was transferred to 911, prompting police to respond and put the cover back on.

Shearer’s son, Jade Allen, said the manhole cover stuck partially open at a 45-degree angle. "A lot of people don’t want to fall into a pit to their death," he said. "I just felt bad for her and her family. " Shearer said she reached out to police in Briarcliff Manor, where Gocaj lived, to connect with the family in case they pursue a lawsuit.

Gocaj was a Westchester mother who had stepped out of her parked SUV when the incident occurred.