It happened near 18th Street and the Ben Franklin Parkway, outside the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, at about 2:20 Monday afternoon.
Action News was on the scene when the lift came crashing down. The victim was unconscious after falling nearly 50 feet.
A co-worker tended to him and he finally regained consciousness, but he was screaming in pain about an apparent broken leg.
Medics arrived, carefully placed him on a stretcher, and rushed him to Hahnemann Hospital with that broken leg, as well as head and neck injuries.
He's been identified by co-workers as Tommy Quinn.
It's unclear why the man-lift toppled over. OSHA is investigating this workplace accident.
No one else was injured.
Race Street was closed for several hours between 17th and 18th Streets, as crews worked to remove the lift ahead of the scheduled start of the viewing for the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.
The lift was eventually removed late Monday night.
