New York’s Finest Save A Life

Many of us were startled on Friday afternoon by the prolonged noise of low-flying helicopters, and I learned this morning on NY1 that the cause of the surveillance was a man threatening to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.

Though NY1 hasn’t put the story or any footage online, the New York Post reports that the man climbed the south tower of the Bridge, facing the harbor, and remained there for three hours, before police eventually persuaded him to come down.

“’Like in the movies, this is like a negotiation, and there’s a give and take and we want something from him and he wants something from us. So we wanted him off the edge, and we were able to do that by giving him a cigarette,” Lt. Michael Licitra told reporters later Friday following the daring rescue.'”

Read the full story at the Post and check NY1, which may still have the story in its rotation.

Photo credit Uwe Conrad at Pixabay. Used with permission.

 

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  • Clara West

    Not sure how he was able to climb it? The towers have had
    large blocking screens up for a number of years to prevent this,
    Plus one of the reasons there is a police presence on the
    bridge has been to prevent the normally usual tourists from trying to climb up to get a picture!

  • Jorale-man

    I wondered that too. They added those screens after a man jumped off the Brooklyn-side tower a few years ago. Clearly this guy found a way around them.

    Rather disturbing how many videos there were up on Twitter (including a live feed) on Friday. I hope those NYPD negotiators had a stiff drink when that was over.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nPOzGeyaw Arch Stanton

    Knowing the NYPD they probably had a stiff drink before going up there.

  • Jorale-man

    Whatever gets the job done…

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    Speaking of videos, there’s this haunting documentary called “The Bridge”, about jumpers who flock to the Golden Gate Bridge.

  • Jorale-man

    Good to know. I’ve heard that’s been a particularly troublesome bridge.

  • http://www.yotamzohar.com StudioBrooklyn

    Whoa, I hadn’t thought about the bridge being “troublesome”.

    More of a meditation on suicide in general, really. And that particular method.