The man, who cops said was in his 30s, was walking on Bedford Ave. near Herkimer St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant at 3 p.m. when the metal doors leading to the basement of an abandoned building at 1281 Bedford Ave. collapsed under him, witnesses said.
Police would not immediately confirm the incident but were seen removing the body from the cellar.
Richie McCray saw the death as it happened. “The thing just opened. He was walking. He wasn’t paying attention. The thing is loose. And he disappeared,” said McCray, 50, who added that the victim lived in a nearby shelter.
The city has received 59 complaints for defective sidewalk cellar doors since July 2013.