Gravedigger on L.I. buried alive & dies

A Long Island cemetery worker died at the bottom of an empty grave Thursday in a freak accident, Suffolk County police said.

Rodwin Allicock, 42, of Coram, was on the job around 8:30 a.m. when the seven-foot deep grave collapsed as he worked inside the excavation, according to police.

As the cascading dirt filled the grave, his co-workers at Washington Memorial Park in Mount Sinai tried frantically but unsuccessfully, to dig Allicock out.

The fatal accident drew first responders from the police Emergency Service Section and four local fire departments, with none able to rescue the doomed worker. Allicock died at the scene.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating the bizarre death.

The cemetery opened more than a half-century ago, according to its website.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the votes today to pass the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package that contains $1,400 checks to Americans. Good thing, as millions will need that immediate cash to fork over to Uncle Sam for taxes due on last year’s COVID assistance. The IRS has to be paid by April 15.

The earlier two rounds of direct payment were not taxable, nor will be this one be, if the Senate agrees and President Biden signs it into law. But the enhanced unemployment benefits enacted by Congress last year are fully taxable and the bills are coming due when people file their 1040s.

It is pretty foolish for the federal government to be handing out money to the jobless in a national emergency and then demanding that those same jobless write checks back to the Treasury even as Washington is sending out more financial help.

In normal times, unemployment compensation is considered unearned income, like interest, dividends and capital gain distributions, all which are taxable. But these aren’t normal times, as about 40 million people were approved for unemployment last year. The $600 a week Pandemic Unemployment Assistance also boosted the amount received to an average of $14,000 a person. Making it worse, tax withholding was voluntary and not all states even gave folks that option.

Estimates are that $50 billion is owed back to the taxman from some still unemployed Americans. There is a bill to exclude $10,200 in unemployment from taxation, but passage is uncertain.

And compounding the problem is that unemployment is unearned income and only $1,100 of it is deductible, instead of the standard $12,400 earned income deduction for dependents.

Example: a teenage camp counselor would earn $2,000 for the summer, which wouldn’t be taxed at all. But with camp closed by COVID, $2,000 in unemployment is taxable.

The Democrats weren’t alone in making this mess, as the GOP controlled the Senate and White House last year. But they’re the ones who have to clean it up.

The murder of a 28-year-old Bronx man Monday kindled shock for the mother of one of the slain man’s good friends, who was killed nearly five years ago in a case that remains unsolved.

Anthony Castillo was shot twice in the upper body on Morris Ave. near E. 181st St. in Fordham Heights about 11 p.m. on Monday. He died at St. Barnabas Hospital.

Back in July 2016, Castillo witnessed the murder of his friend Ryan Ginyard, 24, at a Bronx playground. Ginyard was an aspiring dental assistant related to rapper Rob Base, best known for the 1998 hit “It Takes Two.”

Ginyard’s mother, Lori, was dumbstruck at the news of Castillo’s murder.

“I heard about [Castillo’s murder] yesterday morning, my husband told me and then my younger son told me that he got shot, and I was like, wow,” she told the Daily News.

“As far as I know Anthony was a good person. It’s a shame he has a young son and his son is not going to be able to see his father anymore, but he was a good dad and a good friend.”

She said no one was ever arrested for her son Ryan’s murder. Castillo witnessed the killing because he was at the playground to pick up tickets for Ginyard’s graduation from dental assistant school.

“People know what happened, but they’re scared to talk,,” she said.

Ginyard said her son and Castillo were close. Castillo was a regular at Ginyard’s annual memorial events on Jan. 3, the date of his birthday, and June 3, the date of his murder.