A jewelry shop worker was slashed in the face by a falling icicle, horrifying passersby and leaving a puddle of blood on a Midtown sidewalk on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old worker had been warning people outside Plaza Arcade shopping complex, on W. 48th Street near 5th Avenue, to stand clear of melting ice dropping from the roof of the building at 1:30 p.m., when a jagged chunk of ice fell dozens of feet, ripped open his cheek and scratched his eye.
“I heard the sound of glass breaking and a voice yelling, ‘Somebody help!’” said witness Angela Ragouzeos, a 31-year-old jeweler, who called 911 to report the injury.
“He had to sit down because of shock. The blow was hard. It’s scary… I thought someone had thrown a bottle at him,” she said.
She added, “The last thing he said was, ‘I’m glad it happened to me and not a little old lady.’”
The victim, identified only as “Barry,” was conscious when an ambulance rushed him to Weill Cornell Medical Center at around 2 p.m.
“He was telling people to watch out because ice was falling – and he got hit,” said witness James Velez, 31.
Another passerby added, “There was a lot of blood. He sat down on the sidewalk and was grabbing his face.”
The Fire Department also responded, calling the accident a “non life threatening injury.”