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Brooklyn Bridge Climber Sent Home To Russia, Where Police "Don't Touch" You
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 10, 2014
Modified Oct 10, 2014
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 10, 2014
Modified Oct 10, 2014
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Yesterday, a judge allowed the Russian tourist who embarrassed the NYPD by scaling the Brooklyn Bridge in August to return back home. Yaroslav Kolchin, who managed to climb up the bridge weeks after two German artists scaled the bridge towers for an art project, says he was confused about why he'd been in trouble in the first place, "I didn’t know that it would make a reaction like that," adding, "In Russia it is normal. In Moscow police don’t touch people who climb on bridge."
The 24-year-old was sentenced to community service (though not cleaning the bridge, as the judge originally wanted), which he completed. And why was he climbing the bridge? To take a selfie, of course.
Brooklyn Bridge Trespass Arrest video from Gothamist on Vimeo.
According to the Post, Kolchin said, "It doesn’t seem to be that high when you’re downstairs [but at the top] it was beautiful. It was the best part of the bridge." But, he admitted, "I do not recommend other people repeat me."
Thanks to Kolchin and the flag-swapping German artists, there are new barriers to walking up the bridge cables.
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brooklyn bridge
russia
Yaroslav Kolchin
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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