The two had been leaning against an iron railing whose bolts had been "pulled out of the wall," said Scott Mulderig, chief of emergency services at Licenses & Inspections. One or both of the victims had hit an air conditioning unit in the fall.
The man, identified by police last night as Steven Lee, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene. The injured woman, whose identity authorities said yesterday they still did not know, was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, police said. She was in critical condition last night at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Lee had been living in a third-floor apartment with a woman who was not the victim.
Investigators believe that the railing malfunction was an accident, they said.
Fergus "Fergie" Carey, co-owner of Monk's, called the accident "a tragedy."
In Monk's 12-year existence, the event is by far the worst nightmare at the location, Carey said. "There were bodies in the alley last night."
The freak accident has resulted in a shutdown of the building, a location known for its storied restaurants. It's the site where Steve Poses, a pioneer in the Philadelphia restaurant renaissance, opened Frog, later replaced with the more populist 16th Street Bar and Grill.
L&I officials found code violations and additional loose railings in the fire escape. As a result, the four-story building, comprised of the restaurant and 16 apartment units, has been shut down until it can be brought up to code, Mulderig said.
The building's owner was identified as Sidney Brotman, according to city real estate records. He owns six other properties in the city, L&I officials said. Real-estate records list the owner as 264 S. 16th Street Realty. It has been owned by that entity since 1995 and there are no tax liens against the property.
