Woman's body found in basement of luxury apartment building in Manhattan

[Cryptic]

This seems like the normal size and look for the chutes in the buildings my friends and family live in NYC (with the exception of the red light on the top). I

Along with the chute, the garbage room might contain a few recycling bins too and be a bit spacious. The doors aren’t usually locked so that it is easier for people to carry their heavy bags into the room without much struggle.

Thanks for the information. Wow, I can see an intoxicated person going into the garbage room by mistake.

In this scenario the supporting circumstances could be: Resident sees an intoxicated and bathroom desperate young woman outside. So, they open the main door for her to use the lobby restroom. She then goes into the trash room by mistake.

I just cant see how the person then climbs into the garbage chute- especially when she lives in NYC, very likely has at least some experience with them and knows what they are for. I guess we need to trust the police in regards to her not being victimized by somebody. The totality, however, just seems very strange.

 

[Facinatingtimes]

It is very hard for me to imagine how someone falls into a trash chute. However, I’ve used one a few times at a vacation condo, and I am terrified every time I open and put garbage down. My brain goes into overdrive for a few seconds like “what if I forget to let go of this heavy bag?“ I always stand back as far as I can, which probably looks ridiculous. I’m a small person.

I’ve never approached a trash chute absolutely wasted. It scare me to even think about. That poor girl, and her family.

 

[duckcat]

Thanks for the information. Wow, I can see an intoxicated person going into the garbage room by mistake.

In this scenario the supporting circumstances could be: Resident sees an intoxicated and bathroom desperate young woman outside. So, they open the main door for her to use the lobby restroom. She then goes into the trash room by mistake.

I just cant see how the person then climbs into the garbage chute- especially when she lives in NYC, very likely has at least some experience with them and knows what they are for. I guess we need to trust the police in regards to her not being victimized by somebody. The totality, however, just seems very strange.

It is hard to imagine. If it was the case that she entered a garbage room on the first floor, perhaps the doors were more commercial sized to accommodate workers emptying shared sized garbage bags in the gym, lobby, and courtyard area, or for residents cleaning up after private parties in the courtyard. I also found a door that swings open like this that doesn’t seem difficult to fit into: https://idighardware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Floors-2-3-4.jpg

It’s hard to tell exactly, but from looking at the listing for the commercial space: Manhattan 540 West 28th Ground Level Retail Lease: 2,630 SF it seems like that same garbage room could also be used by the ground floor retail tenants. In which case, I’d expect there to be multiple, commercial sized chutes in that room leading to a few dumpsters in the basement. One room for the janitor to unload seems more efficient anyways. I suspect the building owners will be remaining tight-lipped about the layout and security of access to both the building and the room for a while, possibly anticipating a lawsuit.

I wonder if she was vomiting into the chute and perhaps passed out and fell forwards, or accidentally dropped her phone and leaned in after it and lost her balance.

Not placing blame at all here and in fact I totally understand it, esp in NYC, but it’s a good reminder to me that when you see someone younger in that state it doesn’t hurt to check-in rather than keep your eyes forwards. I’m sure a handful of people noted her state from the cab ride onwards. Realistically I guess what would have happened is that an ambulance would have been sent (I doubt NYPD is driving anyone home like they might in a small town ) and there would have been an uncomfortable overnight and a hefty bill.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

I wonder if she was vomiting into the chute and perhaps passed out and fell forwards, or accidentally dropped her phone and leaned in after it and lost her balance.

Mabe I'm wrong, but unless the chute door is very low on the ground, falling forward into it seems a bit unrealistic to me.
The ones I've seen (overseas, mind you) were never lower than average waist height. Even if you bend forward to vomit into it, your weight would not be forward enough to tip you over. Plus, there is that door opening towards you, you would have to climb onto (again, assuming that is what the chute looks like).

Different story if you decide to climb into it like we've seen in the surveillance video of the guy that died doing that.

Still so baffling to me.

 

[Knox]

Any new information from LE on this case?

 

[10ofRods]

"police do not currently suspect foul play" hmm...sorry, but I'm always immediately suspicious with deaths involving garbage chutes. Even among the extremely intoxicated.

What? Can anyone help me understand this?

It's pretty common for drunk people to be kicked out of cabs if they are vomiting or about to vomit. It's possible the driver was headed to get on the freeway to take her back to Brooklyn but she was sick and he made her get out?

There's security footage of her looking very drunk and stumbling, trying to open other doors on that street. Such a sad situation all around but I really hope they figure out how she got into the chute.

This helps. So she's trying to get into buildings that are not her building? And she's very drunk?

I still find it so hard to believe that she got herself into the trash chute. However, it does appear she didn't have to *try* to get into that building, she just walked in. So if she was put out on the street by the taxi driver, she might have been feeling very scared and disoriented.

But to get into a trash chute? On her own? Seems so hard to believe.

IMO

 

[10ofRods]

Mabe I'm wrong, but unless the chute door is very low on the ground, falling forward into it seems a bit unrealistic to me.
The ones I've seen (overseas, mind you) were never lower than average waist height. Even if you bend forward to vomit into it, your weight would not be forward enough to tip you over. Plus, there is that door opening towards you, you would have to climb onto (again, assuming that is what the chute lookshttps://nypost.com/2022/08/12/video-man-fatally-plunges-down-nyc-garbage-chute-as-people-watch/ like).

Different story if you decide to climb into it like we've seen in the surveillance video of the guy that died doing that.

Still so baffling to me.

So, some guy did that?

( Yes, yes he did: Man fatally plunges down NYC garbage chute as people look on, video shows )

So some of these buildings have pretty sizable chutes, obviously.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

So some of these buildings have pretty sizable chutes, obviously.

Exactly.

But looking at the guy's (distressing) video, it takes a little bit of work to actually climb in and push oneself down the chute.
It doesn't look like an "accidentally slipped and fell into it" scenario would be realistic to me.
Then again, I've been surprised many times, so who knows.

 

[whiterhino]

Exactly.

But looking at the guy's (distressing) video, it takes a little bit of work to actually climb in and push oneself down the chute.
It doesn't look like an "accidentally slipped and fell into it" scenario would be realistic to me.
Then again, I've been surprised many times, so who knows.

That's the thing, it's not as if you just stroll up to the chute and fall in. There's almost always some kind of door, a handle etc. It's not easy to get into one from what I understand.

Is it possible she was so drunk she thought she could use the chute like an elevator or something? Idk, perhaps if someone was really out of it or had something else in their system, they might think it could work? I've seen people do some pretty strange things when intoxicated.

 

[Cryptic]

I wonder if she was vomiting into the chute and perhaps passed out and fell forwards. I also found a door that swings open like this that doesn’t seem difficult to fit into: https://idighardware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Floors-2-3-4.jpg

I think you have potentially solve it: There needed to be a "perfect storm" of circumstances:

- Very intoxicated person vomiting into the chute with a door of a certain design where it slides open as opposed to opening towards you.

Then factor other circumstances:

The deceased was female. Thus, even when intoxicated, more likely to make an extra effort not to get vomit on herself or her clothes. She fully leans into the chute to send the vomit straight down. The poor girl is off balance, has a violent episode causing her to lurch forward and fall into the chute?

Meanwhile, a male would be less likely to complete the totality of the "storm": Approaches the chute, opens it, is less fastidious, does not try to send it straight down and completely away from himself, wipes chin with shirt, drives on...?

 

[charminglane]

That's the thing, it's not as if you just stroll up to the chute and fall in. There's almost always some kind of door, a handle etc. It's not easy to get into one from what I understand.

Is it possible she was so drunk she thought she could use the chute like an elevator or something? Idk, perhaps if someone was really out of it or had something else in their system, they might think it could work? I've seen people do some pretty strange things when intoxicated.

"I wonder if I can fit in there?!?"

 

[Gemmie]

My mind keeps going to she was put in there, and didn't fall or climb in herself. I'd love to know if there is vid of her inside the building. Was she alone at all times? Did she run into someone on one of the floors? Even better if a cam was situated where it could capture the chute.

 

[whiterhino]

My mind keeps going to she was put in there, and didn't fall or climb in herself. I'd love to know if there is vid of her inside the building. Was she alone at all times? Did she run into someone on one of the floors? Even better if a cam was situated where it could capture the chute.

To me, I don't think this would have happened if not for how intoxicated the victim was. Not blaming her for what happened, just saying the odds of someone intending to harm the victim in this scenario is unlikely. Not impossible, just not very probable. JMHO.

"I wonder if I can fit in there?!?"

Maybe if drugs were involved, a different scenario being silly with friends on substances.

Maybe she had to throw up and thought something like "maybe I can slide down to the main floor and walk home" or something illogical, the kind of thing that only makes sense to someone whose senses aren't working properly.

Or simply she was disoriented, wandered into the wrong building somehow unnoticed, felt sick, tried to throw up in the chute and really just fell into it due to disorientation?

 

[bombardier]

What? Can anyone help me understand this?

I wasn't implying anything specifically, just that I've seen a lot of cases where an intoxicated person was found in an extremely peculiar place, and its always ruled accident, and sometimes I have doubts about that conclusion. I also have seen cases above (with phoebe hansjuk) where a garbage chute + alcohol was involved, and i definitely disagree with the police conclusion.

 

[ch_13]

I do wonder if Jackie had any kind of previous history of this sort of thing. And, to be clear, I'm not trying to victim blame. However, I had a friend in college who had a history of getting a blackout drunk and acting a bit crazy. He died in a similar way, performing an activity that he would have never done while sober.

 

[whiterhino]

Do people always die in these situations? I've only ever heard horror stories about people dying in a chute or being killed and put into a chute. Never anyone falling in and surviving. But there's nothing to say that the compactor was utilized so she wasn't injured from that. I'm sure I just haven't considered it much.

It's just... what are the odds? Unfortunate that no doorman caught her before this could happen.

 

[moslym3]

I'm almost positive there is a wealth of interior/exterior cameras in the building in all public spaces. The building insurer likely has the tapes already. If the family of the deceased sues, we may see it from the defense. I think this will come down to - were certain areas that should have been locked from the public actually unlocked and accessible that day and how intoxicated the subject appeared to be on film. If those recordings showed a perpetrator we would certainly know by now, i think.

I would love info from her phone and the taxi driver -- for more insight into her state of mind in those moments. Drunk women do stupid things like text an ex for a hookup, not climb into trash chutes. When you open the door to the trash room you smell trash. When you open the trap door to put the bag of trash into the chute you get strong garbage smell. The chutes get very dirty over time as bags tear and garbage spills out on the way down all the floors down to the ground floor bins. There's no mistaking it's a trash chute.

My opinions and speculation only.

 

[scoodyboo]

sbm

Drunk women do stupid things like text an ex for a hookup, not climb into trash chutes. When you open the door to the trash room you smell trash. When you open the trap door to put the bag of trash into the chute you get strong garbage smell. The chutes get very dirty over time as bags tear and garbage spills out on the way down all the floors down to the ground floor bins. There's no mistaking it's a trash chute.

I noticed that building has trash pick-up on Thursdays (also Tuesday and Saturday) so maybe there wasn't much accumulated in there yet as this sad incident occurred on a Thursday night.

 

[AmandaSkis]

I can actually understand the part about falling into the chute. But what would be the actual cause of death? Wouldn’t she land on top of other garbage? Did she sustain head trauma?

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

I can actually understand the part about falling into the chute. But what would be the actual cause of death? Wouldn’t she land on top of other garbage? Did she sustain head trauma?

I agree. Have there been any announcements as to COD? I haven't seen anything about this on the news, but I also have not looked for updates.