I have heard that the very few survivors of suicide by jumping regretted the decision the moment they actually jumped. ?????????????????????????????????

Maybe someone should invent a "suicide Parachute" That way would-be jumpers who actually go through with it , jump and their commonsense kicks in half way down can just pull the ripcord and land safely . Sounds like a great idea huh? Well maybe in Europe it would be , this countries to uptight to think about shit like that .

No one is truly immune somewhere down the road ,that

they may just get fed up with living anymore.

I think being 21 years of age is harder than being my

"senior citizen"age, As one lives long enough in this

life,few things surprise us but with younger people

the surprises of untoward events and passions are usually yet to be.

I am feeling for his Sister and family but also for many

in this world as well that have been victimized by

circumstances beyond their own control.

This happened and nothing can change the outcome. Also he didn't hit anyone when he landed, so stating "he could have", is irrelevant. I tend to look at events like this as 'a job well done', and certainly spectacular in execution. Suicide is a personal decision, and whether or not any one of us would make the same decision is again irrelevant.

Gothamist: no reason at all for that first picture to be up.

I am a psych nurse here on assignment. I have taken care of the mentally ill for nearly 25 years. I have talked people out of committing suicide and I have put them back together following attempts. I have spoken with families whose loved one completed suicide, but I have never had someone commit the act right in front of me until yesterday. The young man landed about 10 feet in front of me.

At first I thought it was some kind of movie/TV dummy. I

quickly realized there was no camera crew.I was amazed that noone else was hurt. It seemed very surreal. I dialled 911 and it seemed as if NYPD was there instantaneously--lots of cops. They quickly taped off the area and shoed us out of the way.

As my guest and I walked toward Penn Station, we realized that if he had jummped from the 82nd floor observatory, he had been there when we were. There were only about a dozen of us on the observatory, and only one door was open to go out on the promanade. But the crumpled, broken body that we saw,we couldn't imagine who it would have been. Someone in excrutiating emotional pain, with no visible symptoms.

Reading the posts on this blog, I am amazed at the stigma that still exists with regards to mental illness. Society is capable of accepting drug addicts and alcoholics as ill but where is the empathy for those who are tortured with illnesses of the psyche? I am sorry that another person felt that there was no one to help him through whatever he found to be insurrmountable.

To his family, friends,loved ones, and those who wittnessed his death--we would have helped if we knew.

I am so sorry for your experience. But thank you for sharing it. And for posting accurate information regarding mental illness.

I, too, hope he is at peace.

damn, that's pretty heavy.

Sorry, RN, for your experience. Make sure to hug all the ones you love, and take their hugs. And even in our professionalism, make sure to take the time to care for yourself and talk to someone about it. Having the stark physical reality of the profession thrown in front of you

can leave an emotional dent. Thanks for your work in preventing other future actions and healing the wounds of others.

Terrible way for a good-looking young man to die. One has to wonder if the city itself is stressing-out college students who come here from other towns. Wonder what the percentage of college kids who've killed themselves in NYC over the last few years is for out-of-towners vs. kids born and raised here. From the looks on the faces of most tourists in Times Square or on the subway, they seem mighty stressed by the way we live here. NYC may look good to them on TV or iPHONE pics, but living (and going to school) here takes someone with a tough hide.

As for the selfishness of him jumping off the ESB, you have to wonder why pick that particular way to go. If just ending it all is what he sought, there are lots of ways to do so without endangering people on the street. He really could have killed one or two others had he landed on them. But then again, we're all trying to get inside what in the end must have been a disturbed mind and figure out what that mind was thinking, damn near impossible.

Rest in peace kid.

I'm glad he didn't take anyone out with him. His judgement was definitely clouded if he spent the money and the time to wait in line to get to the top to jump.

pancakes anyone?

i feel bad for his family, but what a selfish, asshole way to do it. what if he had landed on someone else and taken them with him? it's such a high traffic pedestrian area that it was lucky he only took his own life.

Yah, obviously sucks when this s-it happens.

What I gotta wonder is, man, what the heck was going through his mind during the fall. That must be some crazy ass thoughts.

"oh my god, I'm actually doing it . . . " splat.

That's got to be an awesome feeling, just flying down from the highest point in the city. But ya, not worth giving your life over.

What is the matter with these kids today?!? This guy went to frickin Yale. He's a young, not bad looking guy, with the whole future ahead of him. Maybe he had an f'ed up home life? Or maybe a break up? But man, death is FOREVER, and it's such a shame that these kids keep doing this s-it. Unless you have some terminal illness, ain't nothing worth giving your life over.

RIP buddy.

The tragedy could have been a lot greater considering it was rush hour. May the poor soul finally find contentment.

Regarding the fence. If it's a ten foot fence, and the top two feet were electrified, then no one would be able to climb over it. I wouldn't even post a notice that it was electrified. Let the individual get shocked and then they will remember the incident more clearly.

Recurring image of a lightning bolt striking the fence as the suicide climbs it....certainly a lot less messy for the EMS people.

What I find perplexing here are the "2 Likes." Do these people like the idea of taking a leap of the ESB or are they applauding the writer of the news article?

I think I now know how to piss off the Gothamist collective when I'm dead.

Selfish asshole.

At this point, they should probably just turn the ESB observation deck into a big cage.

I'm surprised there is any observation deck still open like that. They are suicide magnets.