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Breaking: Activist Scaling the NY Times Building
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 5, 2008
Modified Jun 5, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 5, 2008
Modified Jun 5, 2008
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Photos via Wally G's Flickr and WNBC.
At approximately 11:57 a.m. a news alert came in saying there was a large crowd gathered at 620 8th Avenue and West 40th Street. "LEVEL 1 CALLED FOR CROWD CONTROL, AND A POSSIBLE PERSON ATTEMPTING TO JUMP DOWN FROM A BLDG." A reader wrote in minutes later saying, "Someone is climbing the exterior of the NY Times building."
It was unsure if this was a stunt, or a suicide mission. If the former, Peter Vallone, Jr. will use it as another reason his proposed no-stunt bill should be passed into law.
CityRoom is now reporting that the climber is an activist and is holding a banner that says: “Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week.” It's likely that this has to do with World Environment Day, which is also what the Times Square pop up is for. He also is wearing a t-shirt plugging the website thesolutionissimple.org, and is believed to be Alain Robert -- who has scaled many buildings in his time, including the Empire State Building..
If anyone has any photos from scene, send them our way.
UPDATE: The NYPD's Emergency Service Unit has him in custody on the upper floor support beam.
Tagged
activist
Alain Robert
breaking news
climber
ny times building
scaling
stunt
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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