Teen May Have Been Down 50 ft Shaft on Bridge for Hours Before 911 Was Called
The 16-year-old boy was in critical condition after he rescued following a 50 ft fall down a maintenance worker shaft on the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Unverified posts on social media said he was down there for several hours before 911 was called.
| 18 Feb 2026 | 01:06
Firefighters work to rescue a teen boy who fell down a 50 ft worker’s maintenance shaft on the Queensboro Bridge on Feb. 16. Some social media posters said the boy had been lying at the bottom of the shaft for hours before 911 was called. The report is unconfirmed, but the NYPD was not releasing further details. (
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Picture of the ladder and maintenance shaft were a reddit posters said a teen named “frankie” had fallen 50 ft. (
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Firefighters on the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge on the night of Feb. 16 when a 16 year old boy was pulled from a 50 ft maintenance shaft and transported to a local hospital in critical but stable condition. (
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About 75 firefighers and EMS pesonnel responded to an emergency that ended up pulling a 16 year old from 50 foot maintenance shaft on the Queens side of the Ed Koch Bridge on Feb. 16. The victim was transported to a local hospital. (
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Details remain murky around the 16-year-old boy who was rescued on Feb. 16 from the bottom of a 50 ft workers’ maintenance shaft on the Ed Koch Queensboro bridge after apparently slipping off a ladder.
What is not clear is how long the victim was lying there and what precipitated his fall. Reports speculated he was trying to film a Tik Tok video that went bad. Several posters on a reddit site said the boy identified only as “frankie” may have been at the bottom of the shaft for hours before 911 was called and that up to three companions fled after he fell.
One poster on the reddit thread said his friend fell around 3 p.m. and the companions fled. Several said that the companions took the victim’s cell phone.
Police said they responded to a 911 call at 5:46 p.m. If the 3 p.m. time of fall is correct, it means he was in the shaft for nearly three hours before help arrived.
A poster on social media when the victim first fell, he could be heard moaning in pain and pleading for help.
Police reported the rescue took several hours. By the time the victim was hoisted from the bottom of the shaft he was suffering from hypothermia and possibly other undisclosed injuries sustained in the fall.
When he was initially transported, a police dispatcher described him as a “red tag patient,” which means a patient is critically injured and needs immediate medical attention. Subsequent reports said he was in critical but stable condition.
FDNY deputy inspector Nicholas Corrado, at a press event shortly after the rescue was completed, gave details of the rescue but not on the identity of the victim, why he was there or how long he had been at the bottom of the shaft before rescuers could reach him. Corrado noted that the rescue was a “confined space operation, which is a very difficult, time consuming, manpower intensive operation.” He said it involved about ten pieces of equipment. “It involves high angle equipment, ropes, we have to monitor air and create high points.”
When pressed for further info at the brief, Feb. 16 press conference, he said only: “PD will be doing an investigation.”
About 75 firefighters and EMS responded, he said as well as the NYPD. Police boats were in the East River while an NYPD helicopter circled overhead.
One unverified report on a reddit site following the incident faulted the kids who were with the victim when he fell.
“They left the boy to die,” said the reddit poster identified as “Spefic-Hunter-7265.” “I know the kids name but won’t say it for privacy reasons.”
The post continued, “4 kids one fell 50 feet down a shaft as they were trying to exit the top of the bridge. I saw a video since I am pretty familiar with the urbex community of the three boys recording down the hatch to see him. you can hear the boy screaming and moaning in pain begging for help. Instead of calling for EMS they went down took his phone and left him to die. About 4 hours later someone in a group chat hear (sic) word of mouth of what happend (sic) and called 911.” The thread is unverified and efforts to contact the poster were not successful.
By the morning of Feb. 18, the NYPD had no further comment on the incident or the condition of the victim which leaves a lot of questions unanswered for the moment.