Vangelis Kapatos (26) jumped from his father`s apartment in The Whitby building on W. 45th St. near Eighth Ave. a few minutes before noon.
Cop sources were quoted by Daily News as saying he had tried to take his life a number of other ways immediately before leaping.
He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center, where he was in critical but stable condition early Sunday evening, police said.
"He landed on a garbage pile," one official said. "That`s the only reason he`s alive."
Cops said Kapatos` injuries were not life-threatening.
The Sanitation Department suspended trash collection after the Dec. 26 snowstorm that paralyzed the city. It was expected to resume tomorrow.
Residents of the building, where Kapatos lived with his father since childhood, said the garbage had been kept in the basement since the storm hit.
Workers had moved the foul-smelling heap - roughly 100 plastic bags - out onto the sidewalk Sunday morning.
Kapatos` family is originally from Greece, neighbors said.
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Editor: Bambang
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