NEW YORK (1010 WINS)  -- Walking on New York sidewalks can involve -- pitfalls. Quite literally.

1010 WINS SLIDESHOW: Sidewalk Accident

A woman who suddenly fell through a Manhattan sidewalk grate and plunged at least 10 feet through the heavy steel mesh lid of a Consolidated Edison transformer vault Thursday is among hundreds of urban pedestrians at risk each year of being injured in such mishaps.

1010 WINS VIDEO: Woman Takes Big Fall in Big Apple

The woman in her 20s suffered only minor injuries, but the incident brought up a piece of urban life encountered daily on just about any street in New York City. As people walk over the many grates covering the city's sidewalks, it's hard to not occasionally think the worst.

Attorney Steve Goolnick said he has represented dozens of clients who were injured by tripping on grates that protrude from the sidewalk.

Even perfectly aligned grates can trip people -- women with stiletto heels that sometimes get caught in the holes.

"When I walk, there is some concern in the back of my head after 26 years of personal-injury cases that something could go wrong,'' Goolnick said.

The woman injured Thursday was treated at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center. Her name was not immediately released, and Con Edison was investigating how the lid gave way.

For several minutes until she was pulled out by two firefighters from Rescue Company 1 who were lowered into the hole, the woman was just inches away from possible electrocution, fire officials said.

Firefighter Frank Rush and Lt. Tom Donnelly  used a confined space stretcher and a tripod to lift her out of the space. The rescue took about 10 minutes. 
 
They used linesman gloves and a voltage tester to test the grate and the transformers before the rescue took place.
 
In addition to Con Ed, the city and the transit system also have grates for various purposes, including to release heat or steam. The Con Ed grates ventilate the very hot underground transformers.

Manhattan has more grates than other communities because most of its infrastructure -- from subways to telephone wiring -- runs underground, says James Nevius, a walking tour guide.

But he said many people "notice the grates when there's a rush of subway noise, or a gust of air that lifts a skirt.''

Photographers knew that when they captured Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate to create one of the actress' iconic images.

Her skirt famously billowed over East 51st Street and Lexington avenue -- just four avenues from the spot on 51st Street where the unlucky woman was swallowed by the sidewalk Thursday.
 

Above photos of the scene taken by Jim Powers.

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