Man leaps to his death from 86th floor observation deck at Empire State Building
New York Daily News ^ | March 30, 2010 | Kerry Burke and John Lauinger
Savulich/News
Body of unidentified man lies on sidewalk on W. 34th St.
after the man, believed to be in his 20s, reportedly jumped
from the Empire State Building
A young man took a fatal plunge from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building on Tuesday night, crashing down on W. 34th St. and horrifying pedestrians, police said.
The jumper managed to get past the 10-foot-high spiked fence ringing the observation deck and then disappeared below the outermost ledge around 6:15 p.m., police sources said.
He landed with a sickening thud on a sidewalk along W.34th St., near a bank branch at the northeast entrance of the famed midtown skyscraper.
"He came down in front of the Bank of America. Boom! It was an explosion," said Luis Mosquea, 28, who was manning the front entrance of a women's boutique on W. 34th St., across from where the man landed.
"His body was shattered and his sneakers were scattered on the sidewalk," said Mosquea, recalling in horror how stunned pedestrians scampered in every direction to flee the nightmarish sight.
"One guy ran over and covered the body with an umbrella," he said. ..."
