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MAN AT OFF-TRACK BETTING PARLOR FALLS THROUGH SIDEWALK METAL PLATE

A wealthy downtown businessman who loves the horses toppled 30 feet through a rusted-out metal plate on a sidewalk in Tribeca today after stepping out of an OTB to smoke a cigar, officials said.

Vincent Riggio, 59, miraculously escaped serious injury and was hoisted by firefighters out of the basement he’d fallen into on Murray Street around 1 p.m. with just cuts and bruises, officials said.

Witnesses said Riggio had just stepped out of the Off Track Betting parlor and was there one second and then just disappeared.

“He came out. He had cigar. He stepped on the platform and he fell,” said Freddy Chew, a deliveryman for a business nearby. I looked down the hole. He was down there, squatting down. There was a lot of dust. I said I would call 911.”

While Chew called for help, Riggio calmly called his wife down on the Jersey Shore to tell her what had happened.

“He said he fell through a hole. He thought he fell about 30 feet,” his wife Joann said. “I asked him if he was alright. Since he was calling me and I realized he was probably okay.”

When help arrived, a firefighter was lowered by rope into the hole and helped fit a harness around Riggio who was hoisted up.

“He was banged up a little bit, but he had no life-threatening injuries,” said FDNY Battalion Chief James Sheridan.

He said it appeared that the metal plate holding in place doors leading to a clothing store cellar had corroded and gave way under Riggio’s weight.

After it was all said and done, the remnants of Riggio’s cigar and a racing form still lay on the ground next to the hole.

Riggio – who runs a consolidating business and is know to most as Jimi for his love of rock legend Jimi Hendrix – had just stepped out of his Duane Street apartment to lay down a few bets, his wife of 17 years said.

“He enjoys the horses, that’s for sure,” she said. “He always thinks his luck is up. That’s the nature of gambling – you hope to win,” she said. “He’ll be wanting to go to Saratoga for the races and I hope he’s allowed.”

She said Riggio had 40 years ago to the day traveled upstate for the legendary Woodstock Music & Art Fair, but had had just as bad a time as he was having today.

“He said it was one of his worst experiences because of the rain and bad accommodations,” she said.