Posted on 07/09/2008 3:58:44 AM PDT by Stoat
Updated Wednesday, July 9th 2008, 4:34 AM
Another climber with a cause has gone up the side of The New York Times Building in midtown.
But unlike the two men who made it to the top of the 52-story structure June 5, David Malone only made it to about the 11th floor early this morning.
Malone called the Daily News and acknowledged he was after the same free publicity the earlier pair received.
He hung a banner over the first "T" of The New York Times sign that featured a picture of terror kingpin Osama Bin Laden holding President Bush like a puppet. On it were the words "Bin Laden's Plan" - the title of his book and Web site (www.binladensplan.com).
He said he wanted to protest Al Qaeda's "crusader baiting," and that the terror group's "intentional provocation of the U.S." was the greatest threat to American national security.
Malone said he was 29 and from Connecticut and that he had dropped out of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1995 to study Al Qaeda full-time.
Malone said he picked the wee hours for his climb because he was "trying to minimize any disturbance - any breach of the peace."
Dozens of cops and firefighters responded nonetheless. Malone said they were knocking on the windows inside the building, trying to get him to go back down.
He also said The Times itself provided information about how to scale its new headquarters - located on Eighth Ave. between 40th and 41st Sts. - in an article it published about last month's exploits of French climber Alain Robert and Brooklynite Renaldo Clarke.
"I had done other things to market my understanding of the group and it just hadn't been successful," Malone said.
The building, which opened in November has a facade that features tubelike rungs all the way up, making it easy to climb.
Amir Hegazi, 33, of Plainview, L.I., who works at the Internet TV company Jump TV, said he was outside The Times building sending an e-mail when "the next thing I know, this guy started climbing."
"I thought he was a cleaner or something," Hegazi said. "He looked relaxed and focused. He was in a zone."
Malone went up the west side of the structure about 1 a.m. and spent hours on the building.
He began to descend about 2:35 a.m., but had a change of heart and stopped between the 9th and 10th floors. He eventually came down and was taken into custody by police at around 5:30 a.m.
Malone called The News three times, speaking in a calm monotone voice about Al Qaeda, what he said was its attempt to influence the American political process and get Republican John McCain elected, and U.S. energy policy.
He went on and on in an articulate, dispassionate way.
At one point, Sgt. Hassiem Michel of the NYPD Hostage Negotiation Team spoke by phone with Malone.
"He was focused. He had his agenda. He certainly wanted to get his message across," Michel said.
But he did not want to come down.
Marchan Singletary, 31, a student from Manhatthan, also saw the climber.
"I didn't know what it was. I thought it was a suicide," she said. "It's crazy. I'm from New York and you don't see this everyday."
Ha finally !!!
We have a good use for the N.Y. Times - a climbing facility!
We have a good use for the N.Y. Times - a climbing facility!
If that rag continues on it's death spiral past irrelevancy and into the void of being completely forgotten, which it appears to be doing with unbridled enthusiasm, they'll need to rent out the exterior for climbing practice as well as all of the interior to businesses that actually perform a meaningful, useful service and can pay the bills......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
