Pedestrian accident in Rockville Centre could have been worse

There can’t be many New Yorkers who haven’t had nightmares, or at least vague feelings of dread, while passing over the many grates, storage cellar doors and other improvised metallic rectangles that comprise a small but significant percentage of the streets we all walk on. The bad dream of having one such grating vanish beneath his very feet came true for one unlucky New Yorker last Sunday morning.

Andrew Connolly, 36, was running to catch the 10:33 Long Island Rail Road train from Rockville Centre to the city, when the grate in front of the AT&T store at 237 Sunrise Highway gave way beneath him. Connolly crashed head long into the far edge of the opening in the sidewalk. He was taken by a Rockville Centre ambulance to South Nassau Communities Hospital where it was determined that he had a concussion, bad cuts on his face and shin, a bruised nose and lip, two black eyes and a sprained right wrist and knee. He was released at 3:30 a.m. on Monday, and spent the rest of the night at his aunt and uncle’s home in Rockville Centre.

“All in all I was fairly lucky,” said Connolly, from his lower East Side home where he was recuperating on Monday. “If I’d gone straight down, it would have been a lot worse.

“It’s something I’ve feared vaguely since I was a little kid,” added Connolly, who works in commercial real estate. “I think most New Yorkers have probably frightened themselves by thinking about it once or twice. And to answer the question everyone keeps asking, no, I didn’t make the train.”

Baldwin Herald Editor Chris Connolly, Andrew’s brother, contributed to this story. Comments about it? RVCeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.