Complaints for open manholes dramatically doubled in NYC before Donike Gocaj died in hatch horror
Complaints about open manholes in New York City have significantly increased this year, nearly doubling compared to 2025. This surge in reports coincided with the tragic death of Donike Gocaj, who fell into an uncovered manhole. The incident has raised concerns about the safety of lighter composite manhole covers, which are more prone to dislodging than traditional steel ones.
- ▪Complaints about open manholes in NYC have risen from 374 in 2025 to 714 in 2026.
- ▪Donike Gocaj died after falling into an open manhole that was dislodged by a passing truck.
- ▪The city has approximately 400,000 manholes, with many being made of lighter composite materials that require locking mechanisms.
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Metro Complaints for open manholes dramatically doubled in NYC before Donike Gocaj died in hatch horror By Nicole Rosenthal, Georgett Roberts and Matt Troutman Published May 20, 2026, 6:28 p.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The New York Post on Google Complaints about open manholes – such as the uncovered Con Edison hatch that Westchester mom Donike Gocaj fatally plunged into this week – have nearly doubled so far this year across the Big Apple, public data shows. A whopping 714 calls were made citywide to 311 about a “defective manhole cover” or a “missing” cover since Jan. 1, while the same span in 2025 drew just 374 similar complaints, the data shows.
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