A backpack-wearing daredevil used suction cups to scale the glass facade of Trump Tower Wednesday afternoon, as police and onlookers watched from below.
The man, who appeared to be in his 20s, is believed to have started climbing the Fifth Ave. tower from a fifth-floor terrace about 4 p.m. on the building’s south side.
For two and a half hours the climber slowly scaled the building before being pulled through a window by cops on the 21st floor.
Police sources identified the man as Stephen Rogata, reportedly from Virginia.
Astonished onlookers posted video of Rogata’s ascent to Twitter.
“There is a man scaling Trump Towers with cops watching,” Jason Chu, using the handle @JasonC1219, tweeted.
In another tweet, Chu wrote that the climber was carrying a notebook and tried to show it to people in the building, but dropped it as he climbed.
In a video posted by @StevOLucci,” a woman can be heard asking, “What happens if it starts raining again?”
A man responds, to laughter, “He’s gonna slide off!”
The 58-story glass skyscraper houses the headquarters of the Trump Organization, as well as billionaire Donald Trump’s personal penthouse residence.
The over-the-top real estate magnate who’s running for president was in Virginia and Florida Wednesday for a pair of political rallies.
Witnesses were stunned by the climber’s feat.
“We were in the public garden at Trump Tower when all of a sudden the guy took off his basketball shorts and sprinted down the side of the building on the ledge,” said Blake Crowson, 20, of Newport News, Va. “We thought he was BASE jumping. He had two duffel bags that looked like they had climbing ropes.”
The NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit was responding to the building as the man continued his climb.
Cops used a window washer carriage and busted through a window on the 14th floor of the building around 5 p.m. in an attempt to coax the “Mission Impossible”-style stunt man inside.
Glass rained down on the gravity-defying climber.
“Those officers that are up there are trained to negotiate with people, I’m sure they’ll attempt to speak with him to get him to come in,” an NYPD spokesman said.
The baseball hat-wearing wild man ignored cops pleas and continued climbing past the shattered window.
A police source said that cops had set up an airbag on the 5th floor terrace to catch Rogata should he fall. Another massive airbag was set up on the street below.
Cops removed a pair of windows on the 21st floor and grabbed Rogata as he tried to pass them around 6:30 p.m., bringing the dramatic ascent to and end.
A mysterious video posted on Youtube Tuesday titled “Message to Mr. Trump (why I climbed your tower)” appeared to show the man explaining his ascent.
“I am an independent researcher seeking a private audience with you to discuss an important matter,” the long-haired man says in the clip. “I guarantee that it is in your interest to honor this request.
“Believe me, if my purpose was not significant, I would not risk my life pursuing it,” he adds.
The user who posted the video on Youtube goes by the name “Leven Thumps,” which appears to be a reference to a series of children’s fantasy novels. It was unclear if the man in the video was Rogata.
“The reason I climbed your tower was to get your attention,” the man admits. “If I had sought this via conventional means, I would be much less likely to have success, because you are a busy man with many responsibilities.”
The man, dressed in a hoodie that partially obscures his face, then tells viewers to show their support for the billionaire Republican presidential nominee.
“As for anyone else who is watching, please help make this video go viral so that it gets to Mr. Trump, and be sure to get out and vote for Mr. Trump in the 2016 election,” he says as he signs off.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/man-scales-trump-tower-manhattan-suction-cups-article-1.2746270
“LEVEN THUMPS” NEEDS ABOUT TWELVE ACROSS THE MOUTH JUST FOR ATTEMPTED ASS KISSING……….
Too bad his brains aren’t as big as his balls. He’d realize he has no one to risk his neck for in an “election”.