On Friday morning, authorities took one man into custody after he climbed the George Washington Bridge between New York City and New Jersey. The incident shut down traffic during rush hour for the second time in a week — ten people were arrested during an immigrant rights protest on Wednesday — and the bridge’s upper level transformed into a parking lot.
Climber at George Washington Bridge shuts upper level https://t.co/hf2oOy0hOY pic.twitter.com/Y4tLuDxvrR
— FOX 5 NY (@fox5ny) October 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/VioletaCarieles/status/791985690598703105
And thanks to a man climbing #GWB tower we're all going to be late for work pic.twitter.com/kxBk2IaPjP
— David Borghard (@dbdoinwork) October 28, 2016
The resulting snarls of traffic lasted for at least 40 minutes, although the lower level of the bridge remained obstruction free. Meanwhile, emergency vehicles gathered near the bridge amid concerns that the man was suicidal. USA Today notes that the man, who was shirtless and wearing only jeans, ascended to the top of the tower on the bridge’s New Jersey side.
NYPD Emergency Services and Port Authority police managed to grab the man while he perched on the tower’s edge at around 9:00am EST with no further incident. However, traffic continued to drag until around 9:40am with delays continuing for at least 90 minutes.
Police determined that the unidentified man was an “emotionally disturbed jumper.” He’s been ferried away to a nearby hospital for treatment and observation. Thankfully, no one was injured in this morning’s incident.
(Via New York Daily News, USA Today & NBC New York & NBC Miami)