16-Year-Old Arrested After Climbing to the Top of 1 World Trade Center

[IDemo]

Source: People

A 16-year-old bypassed "inattentive" security in the middle of the night and climbed a ladder to the spire of 1 World Trade Center, the nation's tallest building, where he apparently took pictures, authorities said Thursday.

The boy from Weehawken, N.J., was arrested at 6 a.m. Sunday and charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass.

According to a criminal complaint, the teen was quoted as telling police: "I walked around the construction site and figured out how to access the Freedom Tower rooftop. I found a way up through the scaffolding, climbed onto the 6th floor, and took the elevator up to the 88th floor. I then took the staircase up to 104th (floor). I went to the rooftop and climbed the ladder all the way to the antenna."

He was arrested on the premises, and his camera and cellphone were seized after authorities obtained a search warrant, said Joe Pentagelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site.

Read more: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20798640,00.html

[Xyzse]

1. I don't feel like an arrest is warranted in this.

It isn't as if he has done anything beyond just looking around.

Still, he did break the law, but there are so many worse things out there that get less, and they arrest this guy.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. All he had to do is bump the wrong thing and

someone down below could have died from falling XYZ debris.

There's a reason it's off limits. Hell, he could have crushed someone with his own body weight if he'd fallen.


(My only objection to the wire-walking feat between the original twin towers: risk to people below)

[Xyzse]

19. I can agree, though I can't help feel that the punishment is excessive.

I mean, I know you're right, but I feel like, a fine is enough.

Then improve security.

[AtheistCrusader]

21. Agreed.

I do think they over-reacted more than a little, and security is CLEARLY lax.

Guy could have been a suicidal jumper, who would you fine then?

[Paolo123]

2. I hope he took a selfie at least. nt.

[iamthebandfanman]

3. Sounds like

a lot of folks failed at their jobs that night. the kid shouldn't be in trouble, because he shouldn't have ever reached the top to take the pictures in the first place.

the building isn't open. given its past, youd expect higher security.

just think, that kid could have been another poor brainwashed religious fanatic going to the top to blow something up...

if anyone needs punishment, its whatever guards/staff were on duty that night.

[gcomeau]

27. What???

"the kid shouldn't be in trouble, because he shouldn't have ever reached the top to take the pictures in the first place."

Yeah, and should we also not get bank robbers in trouble, because they never should have been able to break into the vault??? What kind of reasoning is that? Yeah security should face some kind of reprimand but the kid clearly knew he wasn't supposed to go in there. He did it anyway. There being consequences for that decision is entirely appropriate.

[rpannier]

28. that kid could have been another poor brainwashed religious fanatic going to the top to blow...

and by the logic of your post, the kid still shouldn't go to jail if he survived because it's the guards fault

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Security ought to hire him as a consultant.

or at least pay him for finding the flaws in their security system.

seriously.

[former9thward]

11. The flaws were pretty evident.

They had an elevator operator take him up to the 88 th floor without asking any identification even though it was the middle of the night. After that he walked past another guard who was sleeping and he just took the stairs up the rest of the way.

[LiberalElite]

32. And to begin with -

he got into the property through ye olde HOLE IN THE FENCE!

[jsr]

20. +1

[Bosonic]

5. It's a particularly crazy craze

A mashup of Free solo climbing and Urban Exploration.

[burfman]

17. how foolish - but also intense and awesome!

how foolish - but also intense and awesome! I found it stressful to just watch them climb up the crane at the top of the building without wearing a safety harness (that's what that wire was for that they were stepping over was for I assume). BASE jumping might be a safer thing for them to do instead of that....

[JoeyT]

24. I think that's a power cord they're stepping over.

Whenever they look up, you can see the ratlines over their head that you're supposed to tie off to. Tie off points are almost always going to be overhead, since it decreases your chances of getting tangled in your lanyard and the amount of shock you eat at the end of the fall.

I've been out on cranes, but there is not enough money on the planet to get me on one that far up. When I finally stopped being sick, I do believe they'd have to cut whatever I was holding on to off the crane to get me down, because there would be no force on heaven or earth that could pry my hands loose.

[burfman]

36. tie off's and power cords - ooops - best not to confuse the two.......

Joey,

Thanks for letting me know it was a power cord they were walking over, didn't know that their were tie's above - makes sense to keep from tripping. I can see that if it had been me up there I might have made a mistake and ended up dangling from the crane only held up by a power cord - how embarrassing in a comically fatal way! I've never been up on the end of a crane - but I can only imagine the strange gentle breezes up there early in the morning and the whole crane gently responding with slight vibrations and movements......makes me a little woozy just imagining it.....

[BodieTown]

31. I have to throw up now.

This, from somebody who has extreme vertigo. I nearly fainted watching this.

[nomorenomore08]

34. I just gasped, looking at the still alone...

[rocktivity]

6. They ought to put a medal on the guy for showing how lax the security is

Has the Port Authority already forgotten the reason why there is ONLY one World Trade Center when there USED to be two?

But perhaps we shouldn't be too tough on them: thanks to Bridge(t)-Gate, the PA has fallen upon its own share of hard times. With subpoenas flying like snowflakes, they've lost two in top management, the head of its police union has had to go on hiatus, and its chairman is on very thin ice because he's a also lawyer for companies who do business with the PA. Maybe it's time to break them up.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024395877


rocktivity

[RufusTFirefly]

7. Why did they bother to get a search warrant?

This is America. Search warrants are no longer necessary!

[mahannah]

8. I would love to see the photos.

[smitty]

9. Lax security

The 16 year old got a ride from an elevator operator despite his lack of and ID, then he slipped by a sleeping guard. Fortunately he was carrying a camera and not something more lethal. If I lived or worked near 1WTC I would feel a little uneasy. The real problem isn't the actions of a teenage boy but the failures of security; I think the new WTC is as big a target as the old one.

[yeoman6987]

37. Lack of Id?

Perhaps he doesn't have one. They are not widely used especially for 16 year olds. He could have a driver's license, but many his age do not yet. We cannot allow this to criticize because the Repuglicans will be all over it.

[Politicalboi]

10. He could have

Set it on fire, and it probably would have fallen like the other 3. Those NY fires are so strong.

[former9thward]

13. If he had been able to carry 150 tons of jet fuel with him.

Yes, he could.

[AtheistCrusader]

14. The new Freedom Tower is rated to withstand fire for 3 hours, only.

That ought to tell people something about the Twin Towers, but no, it's gotta be some crazy big conspiracy.

Three hours. And the Freedom Tower has concrete pillars that don't sag and weaken in the heat, as easily as steel does.
The new building is far superior to the old towers in this regard, and still, it has a maximum value of 3h to potential destruction in a big enough fire.

[LeftyMom]

22. Heat causes steel to sag and lose strength.

Same thing happened in Oakland, on film in front of gawd and everybody. No explosives, no conspiracy, just burning gas creating a great deal of heat.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Tanker-fire-destroys-part-of-MacArthur-Maze-2-2575285.php

It's been thirteen fucking years, you've had plenty of time to read and learn a thing or two. Now knock this shit off, you're embarrassing yourself.

[7962]

26. According to Rosie O'Donnell, fire has never melted steel! A big THANK YOU for your last sentence.

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/rosie-odonnell-spouts-911-conspiracies-first-time-history-fire-has-ever-melted-steel

[JoeyT]

25. Fires make metal more malleable.

If you've ever watched a blacksmith work, they're heating that metal up because it makes it softer and easier to beat into shape. The temperature of jet fuel (~1700 degrees) is also well above the point required to alter the crystalline structure of the steel to change it into a weaker form of steel.

[burfman]

12. next time take a 'chute

If only he come prepared with a parachute - not only would he have avoided arrest but he would have had better pictures on his cell phone.

[bpj62]

15. Oh the Irony

This is the same Port Authority Police that efficiently managed the shut down of the Fort Lee Lanes at the George Washington Bridge. Can Chris Christies day get any worse. I live in Virginia and you can't get near the Pentagon Memorial without going through 2 to 3 checkpoints that are managed by either the Pentagon Police or the military. Wonder what the head of the Port Authority Police Union will have to say about this. They are going to whack this kid because he made them look stupid.

[elfin]

18. I used to teach this age group

The boys were just beginning to catch up to the girls in maturation and were often so dear and so hilarious as they tested their new supply of testosterone to show off.

And sometimes they were so reckless that they got into serious trouble or worse, dead.

This escapade makes me laugh, then frightened. That young man could have been killed by security, if it had not been caught napping. DeBlasio should give him a stern lecture and then hire him for a summer job of pointing out security flaws elsewhere.

[Nye Bevan]

23. Good to know that the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere is protected by one snoozing guard.

This kid did everyone a favor by exposing the lack of security. Fortunately he was not a terrorist but he could have been.

[Sunlei]

29. The kid should not be arrested and threatened with jail.give him back his phone and camera!

They need to hire this child to review security on the 'most secure building in the world"

[iamthebandfanman]

33. careful

I suggested the same above and got a scolding

[yuiyoshida]

30. The Kid has more guts than I would ever drum up....

I hate Heights ... but I have been able to be comfortable on Airplanes before. Still.. yikes!!

[mamunwsf]

35. WOw!!

It's really a wow thing...........I like this news...lol

[yellowcanine]

38. The Port Authority should hire the kid as a security consultant.

Seriously, he could probably give them some good advice on how to secure the site.