Two men, aged 22 and 25, were arrested in the wee hours of the morning today for attempting to climb the Williamsburg bridge, claiming they wanted to take pictures. Police Chief Ray Kelly described James Stafford and Brice Farrell, who were from Connecticut and Maryland, respectively, as "urban explorers," a rare species previously spotted scaling the same bridge back in 2003.
Two "Urban Explorers" Arrested For Attempting To Climb Williamsburg Bridge At 3 A.M.
NY Times Building Climber Clarke Indicted
One of the climbers who scaled the NY Times building earlier this year is making headlines again. Although both Renaldo Clarke and Alain Robert climbed the same building unannounced on June 5th, their stunts are being treated differently, The NY Times reports. Robert is being viewed as a professional stuntman, while Clarke is not-- despite his attempts to convince the court otherwise (he says he previously climbed the Hearst building unnoticed). Clarke appeared in State Supreme Court in Manhattan yesterday and (just like the third climber) was indicted on criminal charges, something Robert avoided with his charges being dropped. He could now face up to a year in prison, something his lawyer says is "a little disappointing. I guess they bought the first guy’s claim that he’s Mr. Experienced Climber.” Mr. Unexperienced Climber will now be seeking a plea deal.
"Rungs" Removed From Ladder-Like Times Building
After a third person managed to scale up its ladder-like exterior, workers went to work removing a number of the horizontal "rungs" gracing the New York Times Building. The NY Times dutifully reports this decision "represented a reversal for The Times, which had insisted that it would not remove the rods after two men scaled the building on June 5, using the veil of rods as a ladder."
Third NY Times Building Climber's Leave Behind
Earlier this morning, a man was arrested after climbing on the New York Times Building's exterior, making him the third person to do so in six weeks. The man, 29-year-old David Malone, hung a banner over the banner to help promote his book about Osama Bin Laden; while he started up the building at 1:30 a.m., he wasn't apprehended until 5:20 a.m.
Third Man Climbs New York Times Building
So much for the security modifications outside: Over night, a third person scaled the exterior of the New York Times Building on Eighth Avenue at 41st Street in Midtown Manhattan. The first reports of his presence were around 1:30 a.m., and the NY Times reports, "after staying on the building for about four hours, the man surrendered to police officers and was arrested around 5:20 a.m."
Times Building Climbers Tell Their Stories
A lawyer for the "French Spiderman" who scaled the New York Times building last week believes his client should be honored, not reprimanded by the city. Alain Robert, who used the 52-story climb to draw attention to global warming (he unveiled a banner reading "Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week"), appeared in court and faces misdemeanor charges including reckless endangerment, trespassing, disorderly conduct and graffiti.
Tabloid Double Vision, NY Times Climbers Edition
The Post and Daily News gleefully put the old Gray Lady on their covers with the same headline--"The New York Climbs"--in the Times' headline font. The NY Times tucks mention of the pair of unrelated climbers, Alain Robert and Ray Clark, who scaled its building to the bottom of the front page.

