Woman found dead in trash chute of luxury condo building

NEW YORK — A Manhattan woman was found dead Tuesday in the trash compactor of her luxury condominium apartment building, police said.

The 48-year-old woman, whose name had not been released as of Wednesday morning, was found in the trash compactor chute by a building maintenance worker at Zeckendorf Towers, CBS New York reported. Police detectives are investigating her death, which they believe is either accidental or suicide, the news station said.

Surveillance footage at the building shows that the woman entered the compactor room alone, investigators told the news station. It was not immediately clear if she had any trash with her when she entered the room.

The woman's body was found around 5 p.m. Tuesday. A coworker of the man who found the victim told the New York Daily News that the woman fell or jumped from the 27th floor of the 29-story building.

She went "down the chute and slid down like garbage," the man told the Daily News.

The newspaper reported that the victim’s purse was found near the building’s elevator.

Residents told CBS New York they got an email from building management telling them not to use the trash chute, but were not told much about what was going on.

"It's scary," resident Nicki Leitner told the news station. "In fact, when I texted my boyfriend about this, he told me to get out of the building because he was worried, as was I. But it was so hush-hush."

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Zeckendorf Towers, which is comprised of four 29-story towers, is located a block from Union Square Park. According to CityRealty.com, the towers house 630 apartments.

The building has a man on the door 24 hours per day, the website said. A one-bedroom condo was listed at an average sale price of $1.2 million.

CBS New York reported that the building has been home to high-profile residents, including disgraced former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife, Democratic political advisor Huma Abedin.

Cox Media Group