Savulich/News
Body of unidentified man lies on sidewalk on W. 34th St.
after the man, believed to be in his 20s, reportedly jumped
from the Empire State Building
Posted on 03/31/2010 5:13:56 AM PDT by ETL
Savulich/News
Body of unidentified man lies on sidewalk on W. 34th St.
after the man, believed to be in his 20s, reportedly jumped
from the Empire State Building
A young man took a fatal plunge from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building on Tuesday night, crashing down on W. 34th St. and horrifying pedestrians, police said.
The jumper managed to get past the 10-foot-high spiked fence ringing the observation deck and then disappeared below the outermost ledge around 6:15 p.m., police sources said.
He landed with a sickening thud on a sidewalk along W.34th St., near a bank branch at the northeast entrance of the famed midtown skyscraper.
"He came down in front of the Bank of America. Boom! It was an explosion," said Luis Mosquea, 28, who was manning the front entrance of a women's boutique on W. 34th St., across from where the man landed.
"His body was shattered and his sneakers were scattered on the sidewalk," said Mosquea, recalling in horror how stunned pedestrians scampered in every direction to flee the nightmarish sight.
"One guy ran over and covered the body with an umbrella," he said. "It's crazy."
Police said last night they believed the man was a college student in his early 20s, but they cautioned that the man had yet to be positively identified.
The observation deck of the 102-story landmark, normally thronged with tourists, was relatively uncrowded yesterday on account of heavy rain. Police sources said they did not believe the man was part of a group of tourists.
At least 34 people have jumped to their deaths from the Empire State Building since it opened in 1931.
The most recent was Moshe Kanovsky, 31, of Brooklyn, who leaped out of a 69th-floor window in April 2007.
One of the more memorable recent suicides from atop the observation deck came in October 2000, when a 19-year-old Canadian man dressed like a pirate chose to end his life in headline-making fashion.
Well, that’ll do it
RIP.
How selfish. Just go out in the woods and hang yourself next time.
I always thought you couldn’t make it to the ground due to all the setbacks on the Empire State. Urban Legend I guess.
That is a very rare feat, to reach the sidewalk, because of the way the building steps back from the street in stages.
He must have managed to take a running leap somehow.
Yeah, you know, kids these days. It’s all about me, me me.
I actually agree with that. Why endanger and horrify other people if you feel you need to take your own life.
Well, he was obviously motivated if he had to climb a big fence and everything. I bet that gives most people a chance to think about it and back down.
Of course it would make a lot more sense to seek help.
The senior partner of the law firm I worked at had a northeastern corner office roughly halfway up the building. He would probably have seen a glimpse of the guy on the way down if he had been looking out at just the right time.
Suicide is an inherently selfish act, so it’s not surprising. Although it does boggle minds like yours and mine who don’t think that way.
It’s a miracle he didn’t land on anyone. It can get pretty crowded around the base of that building.
It’s a fortunate thing that he didn’t take anyone with him when he smashed the ground.
Exactly. But he might have frightened and horrified years of life out of the witnesses. Very selfish.
Yep.
It’s a fortunate thing that he didn’t take anyone with him when he smashed the ground.
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