A woman walking her dog on West 73rd street in the wee hours of Monday morning was hit by ice that had apparently fallen from the Ansonia, opening a head wound. An FDNY spokesman tells us the woman was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, but had no information on her condition. NYPD did not respond to a phone call.
We received the following account from Ashley Halsey Hemingway and the photo above of the scene from Matthew Hemingway.
“I was woken from my sleep around 12:15 am early Monday morning by blood-curdling screaming. Looking out my window, I saw a woman writhing on the ground. She was holding a dog leash and her dog was barking. My husband Matthew and I were among the first on the scene, where the woman was bleeding profusely from a head wound. After speaking with her while compressing her head injury with t-shirts and towels, it became apparent that she had been struck by melting ice that seems to have fallen from the ornate facade of the Ansonia on 73rd Street. This was confirmed by the woman, as well as my husband, who didn’t see her hit but had heard several chunks of ice falling throughout the evening.
She had been walking her dog, so some good Samaritans took her dog home for her and alerted her father. She was alert and after a while was making halfhearted jokes, so thankfully she seems like she is going to be okay. I would have liked to get her permission before writing you but I don’t know her, or have her contact information.
The police blocked off part of the sidewalk with tape which I assume is to prevent other people from being hit, but I’m not sure why the area didn’t extend the full length of the building.
I am writing this in hopes that some publicity about the dangers of falling ice will encourage building owners to clear their ice promptly and safely. It is my understanding that they are legally responsible for their own ice removal. After speaking with the several doorman from multiple buildings who had gathered at the scene, along with EMS, it sounds like these type of injuries happen all of the time. They said that many of the sirens on nights like this are for injuries from falling ice. A long-time west side resident told us that someone was killed by falling ice in the same location about 10 years ago.
She was knocked to the ground near the Ansonia side of the alleyway and was moved under the awning of the Level Club.”
That is awful and so dangerous. A sheet of ice flew off The Dakota last year and missed me by only a few feet.
Good for you and every one of the first responders. So relieved to hear that the woman is okay and that the doggy was taken care of as well!