400-pound woman who plunged through UES sidewalk says size saved her life (NYC)

NY Post ^ | 1/13/13 | ERIN CALABRESE, REBECCA HARSHBARGER and FRANK ROSARIO

[jimbo123]

Size does matter!

The 400-pound Queens pedestrian who crashed through an Upper East Side sidewalk said yesterday that a thinner woman might have died from that fall.

“Thank God, they said that my size was the only thing that saved me,” Ulanda Williams, 32, told The Post as she was discharged from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Williams, of Springfield Gardens, was waiting for a bus at about 9:10 p.m. Friday when she tried to hide from the rain under an awning.

The ground suddenly disappeared beneath her — and she was swallowed whole by the cavernous space adjacent to the cellar of The Blue Room on Second Avenue.

“It was horrible, absolutely horrible,” said Williams, who broke her arm in two places in the 6-foot fall.

[KevinB]

LOL!

[SWAMPSNIPER]

[POWERSBOOTHEFAN]

Yikes!

[Sherman Logan]

The 400-pound Queens pedestrian who crashed through an Upper East Side sidewalk said yesterday that a thinner woman might have died from that fall.

This is not usually the case. Larger animals are in general less resistant to a fall from the same height. A mouse can walk away easily from a fall that will kill or severely injure an elephant.

[yldstrk]

why is it hollow under the freaking sidewalk?

[POWERSBOOTHEFAN]

*Chuckle*

[GeronL]

erosion from a water leak?

[traumer]

DAMN !

[dforest]

She was just wantin’ to drop into the Blue Room.

She is a bigun though.

[cableguymn]

Union not my job issues?

[dforest]

I imagine the ambulance chasers were at the hospital to meet her upon discharge.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

It’s amazing her thigh bones aren’t up around her ears.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

My my my. She’s really let herself go since her husband was re-elected.

[Right Wing Assault]

why is it hollow under the freaking sidewalk?

In older cities, the used to have freight elevators that rose up through double steel doors in the sidewalk. Trucks would drop stuff off, they would put it on the elevator, and shortly it would be in the basement. The doors closed as the elevator went down.

Eventually, a lot of places closed those but there are still a lot around, probably not in use. Eventually, those doors and/or their supports go bad. 400 pounds walks by and - BLAM! Down we go!

Since cities inspect sidewalks, you would expect they would especially look at these.

[Rannug]

Why didn’t she just go in the front door?

[Right Wing Assault]

Here are some guys waiting for one to go up or down.

Here's a website with a bunch of pics:

Sidewalk elevator

[GeronL]

interesting

[Slings and Arrows]

She’ll probably sue Burger King.

[Revolting cat!]

It all reminds of a song sung 50 years ago by Gene McDaniels.

He took four hundred pounds of clay
And they He said "Hey, listen"
"I'm gonna fix this-a world today"
"Because I know what's missin' "
Then He rolled his big sleeves up
And a brand-new world began
He created a woman and-a lots of lovin' for a man
Whoa-oh-oh, yes he did

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB10MHhftXc