Gothamist: Grand Jury Rejects Criminal Charges Against NY Times Building Climbing French Spider Man

glennQNYC

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:52:27 -0500

Anyone see that guys teeth? Ewww!

nutella14

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:46:14 -0500

#7, no one should bring a tandem stroller into Times Square. Catapulting Frenchmen are the least of the hazards. #10, I totally agree. And I don't think he was a nuisance; bold gestures and spectacle like this is what New York is about! That guy who walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers is legen..DARY, they've even made a documentary.

Ph

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:51:33 -0500

If this guy was protesting city taxes, none of you motherfuckers would be calling him a dickbag and being dismissive. Funny how that works.

glennQNYC

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:56:55 -0500

His demand that the G8 cut "greenhouse gas emmissions by AT LEAST 50%" quantifies him as a nieve enviromental lunitic in my book... His lack of remorse is why I think he should not have been let off the charges.

Kingpin

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:47:42 -0500

That Grand Jury ruling is a joke. Their result would've been a lot different if he'd climbed the building with a bomb rather than a banner. Just because his protest was 'peaceful' (in the very loosest sense of the word) and that the Times Building has sort've invited this sort of stunt by it's design, doesn't mean what he did was legal or morally reprehensible. He should've been charged if, not for anything else, for being a public nuisance, causing a security alert and causing traffic delays. And frankly, it's still tresspassing if you ask me. He clambered onto that building uninvited and without the Times' permission. Surely that counts for something.

sonyactivision

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:54:16 -0500

#5, While the government of France would pay for some of the cleanup of the man's remains, and its transport back to France, they generally don't indemnify their citizens who cause willful or involuntary damage or death as a result of their violation of the laws and ordinances of their host country. That said, if Alain somersaulted 52 stories into a woman walking her tandem stroller down the street mashing them all through a grate into an electrical tunnel below, putting out power to the entire West Side of Manhattan, a "gesture" could be negotiated.

Kevin Walsh

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:41:06 -0500

Here's George Willig climbing the WTC, May 26, 1977 http://youtube.com/watch?v=SUgIJ9LaL8g www.forgotten-ny.com

shamanovsky

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:03:59 -0500

We just had a story about ambulance arriving 1 hour late to manhattan from another island. #4 nails it. Imagine if this guy fell? Is French embassy prepared to cover the event and damages to the private property?

Eoin MacNeill

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:47:39 -0500

If I draw the finite city resources that guard public safety to my d-bag publicity stunt I would be endangering public safety. Picture a firetruck parked in front of the Times building during the climb(s), while in Queens at a 4 alarm fire a child cokes down their last smoke filled breath. The malignant narcissism infecting our culture is sickening. This is not about the environment, it is about his bloated sense of self.

sonyactivision

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:46:27 -0500

They didn't bill! A french guy! There really is a thaw happening. See, France, global warming ain't so bad after all!

fakenewyorker

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:35:10 -0500

'seriously endangers public safety' what a crock of b.s.

shamanovsky

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:41:05 -0500

On one hand we have highest pot arrests and all the photographer harassments. On the other hand, while on a very romantic mission, this guy seriously endangers public safety and gets away with it. I can't help but wonder how much money we are spending on these pranks? (Courts, firefighters, police, etc.)