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<\/a>A SINKHOLE IS seen cordoned off with traffic cones on East 180th Street and Bronx Park Avenue in the West Farms section of The Bronx on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after a bus slid into the hole earlier that day.\u00a0Photo by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n
When Norwood News arrived at the location, which is close to the East 180th Street subway station, Wings Academy, a local shipping company, and the landmarked Fire Alarm Telegraph Bureau, Bronx Central Office, the bus was seen tilted to one side and the right back wheel was lodged in the sink hole.<\/p>\n
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A tow truck was on site and later pulled the bus out of the hole, which was located on the corner of East 180th Street and Bronx Park Avenue.<\/p>\n
FDNY representatives were also on site, seemingly coordinating the extraction of the bus from the hole, while the driver and school children appeared to have been already taken out of the bus.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Norwood News spoke a group of construction workers on Bronx Park Avenue, close to the corner where the bus slid into the hole and opposite the site of a local shipping business, Batista Shipping, in front of which was a large tractor trailer.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n AN NYCTA PARKING lot is seen underneath the East 180th Street subway station in West Farms, The Bronx on May 20, 2026 close to the site of where a school bus slid into a sink hole the same day. V2 Video by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n One female worker who declined to be identified said she saw the accident as it happened and said the kids on the bus looked scared. \u201cCause, like, it was a lot of, like, falling earth,\u201d she said, adding that she didn\u2019t see anyone hurt.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We spoke to local resident, Michael Rangel, who said the hole had been there for quite some time. \u201cI walk around this area pretty frequently and I\u2019ve seen that hole when it was smaller,\u201d he said. We asked if it gradually had gotten more sunken over time, and he said, \u201cKinda, yeah. Like it wasn\u2019t enough to where if you lost your keys in there, you lost your keys but over the most of like two years I would say, it started to get like bigger and bigger, and it was like it\u2019s going to be an issue, and now, I\u2019m seeing it and it\u2019s an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he had seen the children on the bus when the incident happened, he said he hadn\u2019t as he arrived at the scene later. \u201cHonestly, I thought something else had happened and once I saw one of the tires in the pothole, I was like, yeah, that sounds about right.\u201d Rangel added, \u201cIt seems like they handled it pretty well. I just hope nobody was hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We mentioned that a woman had just died in Manhattan the previous night after stepping out of her car and falling down a seemingly uncovered manhole. Rangel wasn\u2019t aware but agreed the incident was tragic.<\/p>\n According to the NYPD, on Monday, May 18, at around 11.19 p.m., police responded to a 911 call of an aided woman in front of 653 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. \u201cUpon arrival, officers observed an unconscious and unresponsive 56-year-old female inside of an uncovered manhole in front of the location,\u201d a police spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEMS responded and transported the female to NewYork-Presbyterian\/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she was pronounced deceased,\u201d the spokesperson added. \u201cThe Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.\u201d The identity of the deceased is pending proper family notification.<\/p>\n We also discussed with Rangel another dramatic incident in 2022 when a truck in Morris Park fell completely on its side into a much larger sinkhole, as reported<\/a> at the time, following some extreme weather. \u201cOh yeah! It\u2019s just so crazy how quick something like this can happen,\u201d Rangel said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Of the latest incident, he added, \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s sad to say but I\u2019m just surprised something like this didn\u2019t happen sooner, considering the amount of traffic that comes through here. I\u2019m surprised nobody got stuck before.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if there was a lot of heavy trucks in the area, Rangel said, \u201cUh, it can be, yeah. Sometimes, it be heavy trucks.\u201d Gesturing to Bronx Park Avenue, he said, \u201cWe have, like, buses but they just go like straight ahead and there\u2019s, like, a shipping kind of company over here. I\u2019m surprised, like, when they turn in, like nothing\u2026 It gets pretty backed up over here, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking in Spanish and in reference to the sinkhole, another local worker, Hilberto Martinez, said, \u201cI pass it every day and I noticed and thought something could happen there. The students in the school [Wings Academy], I don\u2019t know if they were advised about it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Gesturing to indicate the gradual diameter of the size of the pothole over time, another construction worker, wearing a Hi-Viz bib with a \u201cVisitor\u201d badge affixed to it, added, \u201cIt was like this, and then like this, and then like this, and the City DOT [NYC Department of Transportation] came over here, took pictures, walked away and they knew it.\u201d Norwood News reached out toe DOT for comment and will share any feedback we receive.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Asked how long the sinkhole had been there, the man said since around February. Pointing in one direction, he added, \u201cThere\u2019s a school here, a school there; there\u2019s danger.\u201d In reference to the large blue container \/ tractor trailer seen parked outside Batista shipping business, we asked another construction worker how many containers of that size would typically visit the site per week. The worker estimated around six.<\/p>\n The site is also close to the East 180th Street subway station, under which an NYC Transport Authority (NYCTA) parking lot is located. Several regular-sized vehicles were seen parked there. A few other storage trucks and other heavy vehicles were seen passing by the area.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Norwood News reached out to the NYPD, DOT, the MTA, NYC Department of Education (DOE) for comment. The NYPD referred us to the FDNY\/EMS. DOT referred us to NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). A representative from DEP later said, \u201cDEP is currently investigating our infrastructure to determine the root cause of this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n A DOE spokesperson said, \u201cThis is not a NYCPS contracted bus.\u201d We asked if it\u2019s been contracted by the MTA, since an extract from the DOE website states, \u201cIn accordance with Chancellor\u2019s Regulation A-801, NYCPS [New York City Public Schools] provides transportation to all eligible New York City students in public, charter, and non-public schools. In partnership with the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)<\/a>\u00a0and our\u00a0school age<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0preschool<\/a> bus companies, our mission is to ensure safe and reliable transportation to and from school.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We did not receive an immediate response from the MTA but will share any feedback we receive.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Reacting to news of the woman who died in Manhattan after falling into the manhole, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson had said Tuesday, May 19, \u201cThis doesn\u2019t sound right nor make sense to me. How was anyone allowed to park that close to an open manhole. Really sad and so heartbreaking. Prayers and condolences to her family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>FDNY ARE SEEN on East 180th Street by Bronx Park Avenue in the West Farms section of The Bronx on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after a school bus slid into a sinkhole.\u00a0
Image courtesy of the Citizens\u2019 App<\/p>\n<\/a>A SINKHOLE IS seen on East 180th Street by Bronx Park Avenue in the West Farms section of The Bronx on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after a school bus slid into a hole earlier that day.\u00a0 \u00a0
Photo by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n<\/a>A LOCAL WORKER standing on Bronx Park Avenue in the West Farms section of The Bronx talks to Norwood News on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, about a sinkhole on nearby East 180th Street after a school bus slid into it earlier that day.\u00a0
Photo by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n<\/a>FDNY AND OTHER workers are seen working to extract a school bus from a sinkhole on East 180th Street by Bronx Park Avenue in the West Farms section of The Bronx on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.\u00a0
Photo by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n<\/a>A LOCAL WORKER gestures to indicate the size of what he described as an expanding sinkhole on East 180th Street by Bronx Park Avenue in the West Farms section of The Bronx on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.\u00a0
Photo by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n<\/a>A TRACTOR TRAILER \/ container is seen on Bronx Park Avenue by East 180th Street in the West Farms section of The Bronx on WednesdBAay, May 20, 2026.\u00a0
Photo by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n<\/a>BATISTA SHIPPING BUSINESS is seen on Bronx Park Avenue near East 180th Street in the West Farms section of The Bronx on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.\u00a0
Photo by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n<\/a>LOCAL RESIDENT MICHAEL Rangel points to the scene after a school bus slid into a sinkhole on East 180th Street by Bronx Park Avenue in the West Farms section of The Bronx on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.\u00a0
Photo by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n