The New York Times Headquarters removed some ceramic rods from its exterior Wednesday as a man was arrested for making the third attempt to scale the Midtown building in the past several weeks.
The man climbed to the 11th floor of the 52-story building before reversing course and descending to a lower floor where he hung a red and white banner referencing Osama bin Laden. He then spent several hours making calls on his cell phone and eventually talking to police.
"He started going up, pasting stickers on the windows, then he went up, maybe to the 10th floor, whatever, stayed there, came back down, but it seems like it was planned out, he was real laid back about it," said one witness.
"He was on his cell phone. He had a jug of water with him. He was just leaning over the side just looking for 15 minutes of fame," added another.
At one point, the man called the Daily News and identified himself as 29-year-old David Malone of Connecticut and said he was protesting Al Qaida.
After a four-hour adventure, police eventually got the man to surrender, pulling him through a fifth-floor window. He was walked out the front of the building at about 5:30 a.m. and taken by police to Bellevue Hospital, presumably for psychiatric evaluation.
On its website, the Times cites a law enforcement source as saying nine feet of the distinctive ceramic rods that cover the buildings fa�ade were removed from the building in reaction to this latest incident.
The rods are there to make the building more energy efficient, by reducing the solar heat in the building without blocking all the light.
The Times had already made modifications to the building to make it harder to climb, adding plywood to many of the ground floor joists. However, some spots remained exposed and it’s believed that’s how the climber was able to make his ascent. The company had also increased security around the building and says while there were people on duty at the time of the incident they are looking into how this happened.
"They put security out here every morning and they started putting these boards up to keep people from climbing," added another. "But you know somebody said they brought it upon themselves. It's just like, you know, why do people climb mountains? Because they're there. A lot of people climb ladders because they're there."
The one-year-old building wasn't widely thought of as a ladder until June 5 when two men scaled the building for the first time within hours of each other.
Stuntman Alain Robert made it to the top, while trying to call attention to global warming. He has since had the most serious charges against him dropped after a grand jury wouldn't indict. Renaldo Clarke of Brooklyn, who was trying to raise awareness of malaria, is free on bail and due back in court a week from Wednesday.
The man climbed to the 11th floor of the 52-story building before reversing course and descending to a lower floor where he hung a red and white banner referencing Osama bin Laden. He then spent several hours making calls on his cell phone and eventually talking to police.
"He started going up, pasting stickers on the windows, then he went up, maybe to the 10th floor, whatever, stayed there, came back down, but it seems like it was planned out, he was real laid back about it," said one witness.
"He was on his cell phone. He had a jug of water with him. He was just leaning over the side just looking for 15 minutes of fame," added another.
At one point, the man called the Daily News and identified himself as 29-year-old David Malone of Connecticut and said he was protesting Al Qaida.
After a four-hour adventure, police eventually got the man to surrender, pulling him through a fifth-floor window. He was walked out the front of the building at about 5:30 a.m. and taken by police to Bellevue Hospital, presumably for psychiatric evaluation.
On its website, the Times cites a law enforcement source as saying nine feet of the distinctive ceramic rods that cover the buildings fa�ade were removed from the building in reaction to this latest incident.
The rods are there to make the building more energy efficient, by reducing the solar heat in the building without blocking all the light.
The Times had already made modifications to the building to make it harder to climb, adding plywood to many of the ground floor joists. However, some spots remained exposed and it’s believed that’s how the climber was able to make his ascent. The company had also increased security around the building and says while there were people on duty at the time of the incident they are looking into how this happened.
"They put security out here every morning and they started putting these boards up to keep people from climbing," added another. "But you know somebody said they brought it upon themselves. It's just like, you know, why do people climb mountains? Because they're there. A lot of people climb ladders because they're there."
The one-year-old building wasn't widely thought of as a ladder until June 5 when two men scaled the building for the first time within hours of each other.
Stuntman Alain Robert made it to the top, while trying to call attention to global warming. He has since had the most serious charges against him dropped after a grand jury wouldn't indict. Renaldo Clarke of Brooklyn, who was trying to raise awareness of malaria, is free on bail and due back in court a week from Wednesday.
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