Good Samaritans divert traffic around sinkhole on the UES
Good Samaritans divert traffic around sinkhole on the UES | Upper East Site, @jennasegalnyc/@shaundotmomo

Good Samaritans Divert Traffic After Sinkhole Opens in UES Intersection

Two Good Samaritans came to the aid of drivers— preventing a possible catastrophe— after seeing a huge sinkhole open up in the intersection of First Avenue at East 86th Street in Yorkville Tuesday morning. The men grabbed cones from a nearby construction site to block off the gaping hole in the street and waved traffic around the hazard before NYPD officers arrived at the scene.

Good Samaritan puts cones around sinkhole at First Avenue and East 86th Street
Good Samaritan puts cones around sinkhole at First Avenue and East 86th Street | @jennasegalnyc, @shaundotmomo

“It just happened,” said one Good Samaritan, who spotted the large hole while crossing the street around 9:30 am, explaining what happened to Upper East Site.

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“We just put the cones down,” he added, “it’s pretty scary.”

The sinkhole appears to be roughly three feet wide by six feet long, with a depth of two feet | Upper East Site
The sinkhole appears to be roughly three feet wide by six feet long, with a depth of two feet | Upper East Site

“We walked our daughter to school and this hole wasn’t there,” Jenna told Upper East Site, “by the time we walked back, it came out of nowhere.”

NYPD officer leans over to look inside the sinkhole | Upper East Site
NYPD officer leans over to look inside the sinkhole | Upper East Site

Police officers were on the scene within minutes of the Good Samaritans taking action, using their cruiser NYPD cruiser to block the lane of traffic on First Avenue to keep any vehicles from driving straight into the crater.

The sinkhole is located in the intersection of East 86th Street and First Avenue | Upper East Site
The sinkhole is located in the intersection of East 86th Street and First Avenue | Upper East Site

“That is some hole! Wow!” a sanitation worker could be heard exclaiming from his DSNY truck, which had to change lanes to avoid the potentially vehicle-crippling hole— which appeared to be at least two feet deep and had a large piece of sunken roadway still visible inside. 

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Thankfully Tuesday’s street collapse is relatively small in size compared to the massive sinkhole that opened up on nearby East 89th Street last year— which was roughly 15 feet in diameter with a depth of 20 feet.

A woman stops to take a photo of the large sinkhole | Upper East Site
A woman stops to take a photo of the large sinkhole | Upper East Site

Upper East Site reached out to the Departments of Transportation and Environmental Protection for more information and a timeline of repairs, but did not hear back by time of publication. 

We’ll update this developing story accordingly.

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For updates around the clock, follow us on InstagramTwitter and Facebook

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