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Man Jumps To Death From Empire State Building
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 30, 2010
Modified Mar 31, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 30, 2010
Modified Mar 31, 2010
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A young man in his 20s leapt to his death tonight from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. According to the Daily News, he took a running leap at 6:15 p.m. from the 86th floor, "clearing a fence and then the building's outermost ledge."
He landed on the 34th Street sidewalk during rush hour, and an onlooker told the paper, "He came down in front of the Bank of America. Boom! It was an explosion. His body was shattered... one guy ran over and covered the body with an umbrella."
Police believe he was successful because there weren't many visitors due to the weather, reports the Post. While the AP reports the most recent suicide at the building was in 2006, a man jumped from the 69th floor in 2007 and a woman jumped to her death from the 39th floor just last year.
A little dark history: the first person (of over 30) to commit suicide by jumping from the building was a construction worker who was, at the time, helping build it—he had just been laid off. Another was 23-year-old Evelyn McHale, whose 1947 plunge resulted in the World's Most Beautiful Suicide.
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empire state building
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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