On January 15, 2013, at about 10am, four days after the groundbreaking ceremony to commence the $61 Million redevelopment of the High Bridge, New York City's oldest bridge, a construction engineer, Paul Schisler, of Bridgewater NJ, who was inspecting the span, fell to his death on the Bronx side, according to reports in many of the New York newspapers. He apparently fell over 100 feet and landed near the railroad tracks below the bridge.
Last year, as plans for the bridge were being prepared, the planners called for the erection of a 8 foot fence along the walkway to prevent people from leaping off or from throwing objects. The pedestrian bridge was closed in 1970 after someone threw a rock over the bridge and onto a tour boat passing beneath it. Community Board 12, which covers Washington Heights tried to lobby the City to drop the fence idea from its plan by calling it "ugly and unnecessarily high."
As reported elsewhere in this blog, people have jumped off the High Bridge in the past and actually survived.
last modified 7/14/15
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