Perhaps this lady should diet? What a day she had.

[cochrane]

@Chronos

The article said that the hole appeared to connect to the restaurant’s basement, and the pictures certainly seem consistent with that. I wonder why she (or the EMTs helping her) didn’t try getting out that way? It seems like that would be both easier and safer.

And what was the crane-tripod mounted on? If it was just the intact portion of the sidewalk around the hole, I’d be worried that it wasn’t any stronger than the section that gave way, and might even be weaker due to being already compromised.

There’s an updated story here:

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

The stairs leading up inside the restaurant are described as being loose. It may have been too hazardous to rescue her that way. And she broke her arm in two places. From the story, it seems like the restaurant had numerous safety violations.

And, yeah, OP, I agree. It just isn’t that damned funny.

[DigitalC]

@Rick

Some people here seem to have forgotten the difference between tragedy and comedy.
Tragedy is when I cut my finger.
Comedy is when you fall through a sidewalk.

Only if you are fat though.

[aceplace57]

The new article says she’s 400lbs. That’s three small (133 lb) women standing in one spot on that sidewalk.

It still should have held. I’d expect that even an elevated sidewalk (which that was) should easily handle over a thousand pounds. I noticed in the picture of the hole that there was a few pieces of rebar. Probably needed more rebar and thicker concrete.

Glad the lady wasn’t hurt badly. The updated story sounds more serious than the first one that I read.

[midnight-dreary]

Oh, she’s so fat she fell through the sidewalk HAHAHAHAH!!..no.

That means that if 3 or 4 normal people were walking together, they’d fall through. having 3-4 people on the same area of side walk isn’t that unheard of.