AM New York

"They were literally just covered in the concrete," said Saba Sheikh, 20, an employee at the Kebab and Grill next door.

The men were private contractors making repairs outside 148 W. 36th St. when the accident happened about 1:26 p.m. They were sprawled at the bottom of a 10-foot-deep hole, but not pinned, firefighters said.

Firefighters worked quickly to uncover the men and pull them out of the hole, witnesses said.

"They looked shocked," said Tom Carvetta, 50, a building supervisor on the same block. "One looked pretty bad, worse than the other guy."

Firefighters put one man in a neck brace and carried the workers to an ambulance on stretchers.

"You could see he was in so much pain," Sheikh said of the more seriously injured worker.

Both are in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital Center, said fire chief John Joyce of Battalion 9. Their names were not released.

The workers were replacing or altering an underground vault when the accident happened, according to Molly Gordy, a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation. It's normal for sidewalks in older parts of the city to be hollow beneath, Gordy said. Coal was once stored in bins below the sidewalks.

"Old sidewalks are vaulted, from the olden days when people used to shovel coal into them," Gordy said.

The accident left a 12-foot gap in the sidewalk, which was cordoned off by orange tape. Parts of the hole had been covered by wooden planks throughout the week, Carvetta said.

"I walked across it every day," said Carvetta, who said the construction didn't worry him. "I've dealt with this in my own building. Work has to proceed."

The city issued permits to Frank Basile, who subcontracted the work to Cross Construction, according to the transportation department. Officials said the accident was under investigation.

Basile acknowledged that the work was under his name but said there was no wrongdoing associated with the collapse.

"It was an accident," Basile said. "I'd like to leave it at that."