Daredevil scales Queensboro Bridge, livestreams standoff with cops
A daredevil scaled the Queensboro Bridge during rush hour Thursday, perching over the skyline for nearly an hour and drawing a massive police response — while live-streaming the whole thing on YouTube.
The thrill-seeker, streaming under the handle Smooth Sanchez IRL, started scaling the span’s upper level around 4:42 p.m., according to the NYPD.
As traffic slowed to a crawl and highly trained Emergency Service Unit cops gathered on the roadway below, the man narrated the surreal scene and communicated with viewers, many of whom tipped small amounts of money along with personalized messages read by an automated voice — several of them racist or otherwise offensive in nature.
“I was just doing this for fun,” he said at one point as cops were preparing to come up to get him. “My comedy is edgy, and I just wanted to get a better view.
“It’s been a hell of a ride, hasn’t it, guys?”
As a harness-wearing cop was preparing to ascend the span, the amateur Spider-Man boasted of his own climbing prowess.
“Wow, it’s really not that hard. You don’t need rope, you know that?”
But he assured the approaching cops that he wasn’t trying to make their lives difficult, and had no intention of jumping.
“I’ll cooperate,” he yelled down to them, adding at another point, “Guys, I’m not suicidal. … I just wanted to take content to the next level, and I was just having fun.”
Shortly before a cop reached him, the man encouraged any family that might be watching to take care of the money he raked in through the stunt.
“Mom, if anybody in my family is watching this, access all these donations through my PayPal, if I do get arrested,” he said. “Ask the officers for my phone if I get arrested.
“Is it a crime or no, sir?” he asked of one lawman moving in, with the off-mic cop appearing to answer ‘no.’
As his rescuer carefully continued towards him, he struck a friendly tone, asking, “What’s going on, sir? How are you?
“Guys, this is the end of the live-stream,” he said, ending it of his own volition with the cop just inches away. “Peace out, I’ll be back next time.”
The stream went dead at 5:34 p.m., but the video remains up on YouTube.
The NYPD indicated on Twitter that the span-scaler — whose real name was not immediately disclosed — will be “charged with multiple crimes.”