OMGGGGGG! Texting Teen Girl Falls Into Open Manhole

Via SI Live

To paraphrase Mel Brooks, "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when a Staten Island teen falls down an open manhole while text-messaging." 15-year-old Alexa Longueira was walking with a friend around 5 p.m. yesterday and was about to send a text when she felt the ground give way: "She literally just handed me the phone and I opened it [and] I felt this big drop. It was four or five feet, it was very painful. I kind of crawled out and the DEP guys came running and helped me. ... They were just, like, 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!'" Longueira got some scrapes on her arms and back (pictured), but doctors are concerned about possible spine damage and want a follow-up MRI. A DEP spokesperson says workers left the manhole momentarily to retrieve cones from the truck and expressed "regret." But Alexa's mother is determined to sue the city, and argues that it doesn't matter whether Alexa was texting or not; the manhole shouldn't have been left open. She tells the Staten Island Advance that even though the sewer wasn't full, "Oh my God, it was putrid. One of her sneakers is still down there."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on July 10, 2009 3:32 PM

Comments [rss]

Brooklyn

LOL thats hilarious.

Her mom is fuckin stupid

"Ooooo my daughter fell cuz she wasnt paying attention,give me money and everything will be ok."

Really now?!

I was wondering why NYC is going in debt,its cuz of people like Alex's mom.

Lordswrath

it sounds like the mother is looking for someone to point the blame at instead of her daughter. A more appropriate headline would be "Texting teenager falls due to neglecting her surroundings". Why should it be the city's fault that texting was more important than watching where she was going. That's ridiculous and idiotic. Why should the street workers say "I appologize that you daughter was to busy to notice what was in front of her".

galvo

5 feet deep, not even a real manhole,

collection of dumb asses on SI.

workers and walker, put cover on and then pick up cones.

look where your going, manholes tend to be in the street, not on sidewalk.

lucky she didn't walk into a wood chipper or other typical after storm damage apartus

yusoweird

Next news, a worker was decapitated by a car, when he stood his head up from the UNBLOCKED manhole while working. Whos fault is it??? HOW DUMB CAN YOU PEOPLE BE TO BLAME THE GIRL…

By not blocking the manhole, they not only endanger others, but the workers themselves are endanger…

I think the parent had every right to sue…

KiljoyWasHere

I thought manholes were on roads, not on sidewalks. I am curious about where she was walking.

bachdiep85

Seriously... I am sorry that she scrapped her back and all that, but sue the city??? C'mon! NYC is in enough debt already. And why was she the only one that fell into the manhole? Cos she was texting! duh.

Loulou

What an idiot.

I bet lesson was well learned though

Barbj8

Sue the city, the great redneck retirement plan!

NannyState

Heh HeH Heh! It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World!

ak

The manhole shouldn't have been left open. I agree that texting and walking at the same time is really idiotic, and especially annoying when people insist on doing it on crowded city streets, but if this happened to someone who was simply lost in thought or paying attention to other pedestrians or traffic or anything, I doubt it'd get the same outcry... This particular injury is stupid because of why she wasn't paying attention, and it seems dumb to sue over it in light of that. But it's a hazard to leave an open manhole no matter what - I think this girl has a case. But given her minimal injuries and inane reason for distraction, I doubt it'll win her much more than an iPhone.

theevilone

Contributory negligence on the part of that dimwit. If I walk in front of a bus because I am too busy texting, can I sue the MTA?

DryWallFlower

Of course her mother is going to try to sue the city. Her kid is stupid and should look where she is going. I don't feel badly for this brat for one second. Her mother is even more pathetic for wanting to sue the city.

smallgene

it was like oh my gawd!

o rly?

ya rly!

no wai!

OH SHI-

she's just lucky she didn't get a darwin award.

PTG in nyc

I don't feel bad for the girl, but I understand it was a dumb teeny girl thing to do and that's that, all is forgiven. Maybe she's a future idiot of America, but she's a teenaged girl so I wouldn't expect anything less at this stage in her life.

However, her mother is an asshole and is setting the precedent that for all the unemployable r-tards of Staten Island (approximately 83% of the entire island), instead of getting a job, they can just go find open manholes and live cozily for the rest of their lives.

I hope the city sues the mom for being a greedy ho.

DanielJ

*APPLAUSE*

I can just hear her saying "Oh my Gawwwd, It was pee-yoooootrid!"

inoyourider

Sue the city for what?

A couple scrapes?

"Oh its SOOO terrible but give me some money and it'll all be better"

FAH-Q!!!!

Billiamsburg

but it was all like totes stinky. think of the mental anguish!

Thespis

So she fell in Staten Island?

Seriously...you don't even have to be looking UP to avoid an open manhole. You just have to be looking, period.

JenChungsBaby

She better start taking antibiotics now if she got those scratches in a sewer. And why is mom showing off her 15-year-old daughters bra to a photographer?