NEW YORK _ A woman spent two harrowing hours trapped in a gap between two lower Manhattan buildings, after falling 15 feet during a rooftop party, police said Tuesday.
Cops had to cut a hole through a wall at 4:35 a.m. Sunday to rescue the 36-year-old woman, after a 911 caller heard her desperate cries for help.
The woman was partying with friends on the roof of a Mott Street building, near East Houston Street in NoHo, when she walked across to another rooftop, possibly because she wanted to jump out and surprise her pals, police sources said.
She stepped on top of a cover that collapsed underneath her, and fell into a narrow gap between the buildings, sources said.
Her friends didn't realize what happened, and thought she had left the party, sources said.
The New York Police Department's Emergency Service Unit responded and cut a hole through the third floor of one of the buildings and freed her, cops said. Medics took her to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation.
In a tweet on Monday, the NYPD's 9th Precinct praised the two patrol officers who figured out where the trapped woman was.
"I want to shout out PO Barone and PO Manel _ they responded to a 911 call for a person yelling for help. In their canvass and relentless follow up they discovered a person who fell 15 ft. between 2 buildings and remained trapped. @NYPDSpecialops ESU then freed the person."
