by BRIGITTE WILLIAMS- JAMES
A Brooklyn grandmother was sucked down into a sinkhole yesterday as she walked along a Brooklyn street, authorities said.
Faye Drod, 64, had just picked up her nephews, ages 3 and 5, and was walking to her car at about 6 p.m. to put away a bag of groceries when she plunged into a five-foot-deep opening in the sidewalk on East 55th Street in Old Mill Basin.
"She was in a sitting position when we got there, with a slab of concrete on her waist," said FDNY Lt. Kevin McCabe.
The children did not fall into the hole, grabbing onto a nearby fence to avoid the plunge.
McCabe said once fire trucks pulled up to the street, he jumped into the hole to "make sure she was safe."
McCabe and five colleagues lifted the concrete block off Drod's legs and put her in an ambulance.
"I pulled her towards me, then I got a good grip on her and said, 'Let's go,' " he said.
McCabe even joked with her, saying, 'What a night to go grocery shopping.' "
Drod, a retired paraprofessional who worked at Marine Park Junior HS, was taken to King County Hospital in stable condition with leg injuries.
"We are relieved she is OK," said Drod's sister-in-law, Jodie Drod, 34. "I'm more relived the boys weren't in the hole."
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