Here's Where An NYU Student Was Trapped Between Two Buildings For 36 Hours
It is still unclear how NYU sophomore Asher Vongtau ended up stuck between the buildings - an NYU dorm on Lafayette Street in Lower Manhattan and an adjacent building on Franklin Street - but he was confined for over a day to the space, which has been estimated to be around six to 18 inches.
Employees at 50 Franklin and 80 Lafayette could not confirm which two buildings Vongtau was trapped between, and the FDNY could only tell us that it was on Franklin Street. However, an NYU spokesperson confirmed the second building was modern with garage space, which describes 50 Franklin Street.
Although we were not allowed to enter the garage at 50 Franklin, the tiling on the wall appeared to match photos taken from the scene Sunday night. Although there was no definite signs of the FDNY breaking through a wall for the rescue, there was a piece of plywood covering a wall towards the back.
Here's a look at the extraordinarily tight space where an NYU student spent 36 hours:
On the left is 50 Franklin Street, a residential building, and on the right is 80 Lafayette Street, an NYU dorm.
The NYU dorm looms a few stories above the Franklin Street building, which has a roof patio at around eight stories.
This the garage at 50 Franklin, where the FDNY likely broke through to rescue Vongtau. In the back, there's a piece of plywood covering the wall, although the building's superintendent couldn't confirm what was underneath.
50 Franklin's garage is directly next to 80 Lafayette.
These two updates from the FDNY's Twitter account show how they were able to rescue Vongtau, and just how much space he actually had.