Emergency responders saved a man on the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge on April 23 after he called a suicide hotline from the bridge and said he was going to jump 700 feet into the waters below to end his life.
It took police two hours to find the man following the call, according to our photographer on scene. A police chopper spotted him running up the stairs from the bridge’s lower deck to its higher deck. Officers in a department emergency service unit truck found the man there and took him into custody. Emergency responders then transported him to Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park for evaluation, officials said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority installed six emergency phones along the span in 2008 that go directly to the a suicide-prevention hotline. Police could not say if the man used one of those phones to say he was going to jump.
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide, do not leave the person alone; remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs, or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt; call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273–8255; and take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.