What to Know
- A man jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge Monday morning, the 5th suicide there in five weeks
- Four of the five suicides were people in their 30s or younger
- The Port Authority is working on both temporary and permanent solutions to prevent suicides
A man apparently jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge early Monday morning, marking the fifth fatal leap from the span in five weeks.
The Port Authority said it received a report just before 6:30 a.m. of a man in his 30s abandoning his car mid-bridge and jumping from the south walk. As of 10 a.m. his body had not yet been recovered.
The agency has long-term plans to install permanent fences at the bridge to help prevent suicides, but has said it would begin constructing a temporary fence in the coming months.
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After 16 deaths in 2013 and 18 fatal jumps in 2014 and 2015, there were only a dozen suicides at the bridge in 2016. Monday's death marks at least the seventh this year, most of which occurred in recent weeks.
A New Jersey teenager jumped to his death from the bridge on July 24; his body was found two days later. On July 26, a young woman from Brooklyn was reported to have jumped from the bridge; her body was found the next week.
On July 27, a middle-aged man leapt to his death; his remains were recovered the same day. On August 7 a man in his 30s jumped off the bridge before sunrise; his body was also not immediately recovered.
Local
If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741.
