A downtown businessman, related to the founder of the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain, plunged 30 feet through a rusted-out metal plate on a sidewalk in TriBeCa yesterday after stepping out of OTB to smoke a cigar.
Vincent Riggio, 59, escaped serious injury and was hoisted by firefighters from the basement into which he had fallen on Murray Street at 1 p.m. with just cuts and bruises, officials said.
Witnesses said Riggio had just stepped out of the Off-Track Betting parlor before seemingly disappearing.
“He came out, he had a cigar, he stepped on the platform and he fell,” said deliveryman Freddy Chew. “I looked down the hole. He was down there, squatting down. There was a lot of dust.”
While Chew called 911, Riggio calmly called his wife on the Jersey Shore to tell her what had happened.
“He said he fell through a hole. He thought he fell about 30 feet,” said wife Joann.
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 Battalion Chief James Sheridan.
Riggio was treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
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.
Afterward, the remnants of Riggio’s cigar and a racing form still lay on the ground next to the hole.
Riggio — who runs a successful business and is nicknamed “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. He’ll be wanting to go to Saratoga for the races, and I hope he’s allowed.”
She said that exactly 40 years ago yesterday, Riggio traveled to the Woodstock festival but had a bad time then, too.
“He said it was one of his worst experiences because of the rain and bad accommodations,” she said.