Metro

Sydney Paige Monfries identified as Fordham University student who fell from bell tower

A Fordham University coed set to graduate in May tripped and fell 40 feet climbing a campus bell tower to snap pictures of the skyline Sunday and is now clinging to life, authorities and students said.

Journalism major Sydney Paige Monfries, 22, of Portland, Ore., was taking part in what has become a rite of passage for seniors at the elite Bronx school — scaling the Keating Hall clock tower, touching its bell and taking photos outside one of its top windows.

“They were like, ‘We’re seniors, let’s go!’ ” said a student who was waiting tables at a local eatery Saturday night when Monfries came in a couple hours before her fated fall.

“She was with a group of friends,’’ said the 22-year-old Barn Yard Barbecue worker, who only gave his first name, Dave. “My roommate was with them. He told me some seniors [wanted to go] to the tower to take some pictures and have a good time before graduating.’’

Dave said his roommate ended up at Monfries’s side right after her fall.

“She couldn’t breath. She hit her head. If he wasn’t there, I don’t know, she might have been worse off,’’ Dave said of his roommate. “He waited with her. He didn’t want to move her.’’

Dave said he didn’t know whether Monfries drank any alcohol at the restaurant but noted that the group left an hour or two before its 4 a.m. closing time.

The tower is off-limits to students and supposed to be locked, according to the school.

But Monfries and some pals snuck in and were climbing its spiral staircase around 3 a.m. when she tripped over some debris on a landing and tumbled down 40 feet, smashing the back of her head open, according to sources.

“I heard they were just getting a better view of the city,” said a senior who only gave her first name, Anne. “I think they were posting on Instagram.”

Emergency workers found Monfries on the second floor of the tower around 3:17 a.m. with hardly any pulse.

They tried to carry her downstairs and out the front but couldn’t maneuver her stretcher through the narrow stairway — then her vitals flatlined, Fire Department sources said.

With no other recourse and time running out, medics loaded her into a rescue basket and began hoisting it up — with at least one emergency responder riding along to perform chest compressions, according to sources.

The basket was lifted out a window and then lowered back down to the ground, and Monfries was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital.

She is in “extremely critical” condition on life support, law-enforcement sources said.

Her family rushed to be by her side — as did two priests, including one in a gray jacket from the Catholic university — Sunday evening.

According to her social-media profiles, Monfries is studying journalism, interned at InStyle magazine and is set to graduate in May.

“This is not a good time,” her uncle, Gregory Monfries, said when The Post reached him by phone.

News of the tragedy came just before potential new students were set to tour Fordham’s campus Sunday.

“This happened this morning? No one said a word. This makes me question the general safety conditions here,” said Dan Conboy, 60, of upstate Saratoga Springs, Fla., who was on campus with his daughter Catherine.

The school sent an e-mail about the tragedy to students Sunday morning, and soon parents were warning their pupils to avoid the tower, according to freshman computer-science major Grayson Brown, 19.

“My mom texted me this morning and said, ‘Stay out of the bell tower!’ ” he said.

School spokesman Bob Howe said, “Access to that tower is always locked. University officials are investigating how the students gained access to the tower.”

But Anne said, “The doors aren’t always locked. They’re unlocked at night when they’re cleaning. They are always doing some kind of cleaning or renovation.”

It was too early to tell whether the door was open or the lock had been tampered with, Howe said.