Two scale NYC building in one day
NEW YORK (AP) - June 5, 2008 The first man, Alain Robert, unfurled a banner as he climbed
that said "Global warming kills more people than a 9/11 every
week." He was arrested when he made it to the top.
Hours later, a second man ascended the building - a stunt that
drew the attention of thousands of onlookers, along with TV cameras
that captured the drama in real time. At moments during his ascent,
the climber appeared to slow and tire, and officers awaiting him
shouted encouragement from the rooftop and even dangled a rope,
which he did not take, police said.
Crowds pressed against police barricades to watch the climb, and
people clapped and cheered for him while snapping pictures on their
cell phone.
He, too, was arrested as he reached the top, but police did not
immediately identify him. He was taken to a hospital for a
psychiatric evaluation, according to police.
"Only in New York. This is why I live in New York," said
29-year-old Emily Perschetz, who watched the second climber for
about 20 minutes.
"You've got to respect them for trying," she added.
The facade of the newly constructed building, which the Times
moved into only last year, is covered with slats that allowed the
men to climb the tower like a ladder.
Robert pumped his fist as he made it to the top, where police
took him into custody. Charges against the 45-year-old Robert were
pending, a police spokesman said.
Robert's Web site says he has climbed more than 70 skyscrapers
around the world. He was arrested in February after climbing a
42-floor building in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
The stunts were staged at the Renzo Piano-designed Times
building, just a block south of a busy intersection, across the
street from the Port Authority bus terminal and not far from Times
Square. It is one of New York's tallest buildings.
A spokeswoman for the Times, Catherine Mathis, criticized the
climbers, saying the newspaper was "taking steps to prevent future
occurrences."
"Their illegal and ill-considered actions jeopardized their
safety and the safety of others," Mathis said in a statement.
She earlier said no one at the newspaper knew of Robert's plan
in advance.
The Times itself has "a very green building," Mathis noted.
"We wanted to minimize our environmental footprint." She said the
ceramic slats save energy by reducing the amount of heat and light
entering the building.
Robert said in a news release that he was climbing to mark World
Environment Day and "to create support for far greater and urgent
action from world leaders on global warming."
His Web site says he climbs even though he suffers from vertigo
and is "60 percent disabled" from previous accidents. It also
says that he has been jailed many times but that it does not
matter, because he "would rather stay in a prison than in a
hospital."
One city councilman is hoping that Robert gets to know what the
inside of a New York City jail looks like.
"Regardless of the cause, in this day and age the police
department has more important things to worry about then ridiculous
stunts like this that endanger the police and public," Councilman
Peter Vallone Jr. said after the first climb. "If he wants to
climb something, he can climb the walls inside his jail cell at
Rikers."
Shaznay Jones was more amused than Vallone as she watched the
second climb while smoking a cigarette.
"It looks crazy, like he's on drugs, like he's on something,"
Jones said. "I never saw anything like this before."