Police say that a 21-year-old either fell or jumped to her death at a high-rise apartment building near the United Nations last night. According to the Daily News, "The woman's body was found mangled on the pavement in front of 100 United Nations Plaza on the corner of E. 48th St. and First Ave. around 11:40 p.m., police and witnesses said." more ›

A 15-year-old fell to his death from a Brooklyn school roof after trespassing, police say. WABC 7 reports that the boy, Nick Gryak, and his friends "apparently like to spend their summer climbing the scaffolding and hanging out on the roof" of Roy H. Mann Junior High School on East 68th Street in Mill Basin. And the Daily News reports, "He tumbled down the shaft about 10:20 p.m., officials and family said. Nick plummeted five floors to the basement, where he got stuck in the shaft, sources said. He died at the scene." more ›

The Staten Island ninja, he was not. A would-be burglar on the Upper East Side fell to his death a little after 10 a.m. this morning after being spotted trying to break into a fifth-floor apartment on East 91st Street. "He tried to come in through the terrace, but my neighbor shut the door and called the police," fifth-floor tenant Tiffany Spencer, 28, told DNAinfo. "I guess he ran and somehow fell." more ›

Nearly two weeks after a fan fell to his death while reaching for a baseball, the Texas Rangers have decided to raise the height of railings at the Ballpark at Arlington. The team announced, "Even though all current rail heights in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington currently exceed code, the Rangers intend to raise the height of all rails in front of seating areas to the highest standard in the United States at this time."

On July 7, firefighter Shannon Stone was reaching for a ball—tossed by outfielder Josh Hamilton— for his 6-year-old son Cooper. But Stone lost his balance when trying to reach for the ball over the railing and tumbled 20 feet onto concrete, with Cooper watching. Since the stadium opened in 1994, there have been two other notable incidents of fans falling, including one from last year. The Rangers said that while the railings are raised, there will be the following safety reminders:


• New signage is being installed on the railings at the base of the aisles and in front of front row seating, which states "DO NOT LEAN, SIT ON, OR STAND AGAINST RAIL". The signage will be on the railings in front of all outfield seating from foul pole to foul pole and on all upper level seating, including the two suite levels.


• A pre-game warning with the same information will be made prior to the start of each game over the Ballpark's public address system and on the scoreboards.


• Security and Customer Service staff will enforce this policy with guests seated near the rails.

A would-be thief who tried to break into a Brooklyn apartment via a tree fell to his death yesterday. The 33-year-old man made his way onto the roof of the three-story Bushwick building, then leaped onto the adjacent tree, but the branch broke and he fell to the ground. more ›

On Sunday, a 31-year-old father of three died after falling out of his fifth floor Upper East Side apartment window. Now it turns out that the apartment didn't have window guards, which are required when there are children under the age of 10 in the home. more ›

Yesterday morning, a young woman fell to her death from the balcony of a 26th floor apartment in TriBeCa. Hana Lin's body was found on a fifth floor roof deck area at the luxury 101 Warren Street building early yesterday morning. According to the NY Post, "A source at the scene suspected that Lin stumbled over the waist-high rail trying to retrieve her cellphone, which was found next to her. But investigators also haven't ruled out suicide." more ›

This morning, the Gothamist Newsmap noted a fatal jumper at West 32nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. Now the Post reports, "A bridge-and-tunnel partier tragically plummeted to his death at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Herald Square this morning after becoming locked out in the cold on a lower-floor roof, cops said." more ›

The death of the 17-year-old daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand was ruled an accident by the Medical Examiner's office. Nicole John fell off the 25th floor ledge of an apartment building in Herald Square last Friday morning; the Post reports, "Toxicology tests ... aren't expected for weeks." The 25-year-old tenant had invited John and others to his place for an after-party while they were at the Meatpacking District club Tenjune, which is now under fire for apparently allowing the underage teen into the club with her fake Brazilian ID. more ›

Early yesterday, the 17-year-old daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand fell over 20 stories to her death in Midtown, after a night of partying. While it's unclear whether she was drinking (an autopsy is being performed), Nicole John apparently had a fake ID; on her Tumblr blog (now removed), she gave advice, "As long as the ID is pretty legit looking it should be okay. It’s also easier if you’re a girl, lol. I have a brazilian ID that was made here in NYC and it’s really good, it’s never been rejected." more ›

Earlier this morning, a 17-year-old girl fell to her death from the 25th floor of a building on West 34th Street. The victim is identified as Nicole John, the daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, Eric John. The Daily News reports that she "fell out of a 25th story window of the Herald Square Towers on W. 34th St., landing on the building's third-floor overhang, according to police sources. She was killed instantly." more ›

Yesterday evening around 6 p.m., a man fell 18 floors to his death, landing in the seating area of a Starbucks at First Avenue and East 85th Street. One customer told the Daily News, "I thought it was a gunshot. I ran into the liquor store... You're sitting, having coffee. You don't expect that." more ›

After a resident's fatal fall from a 24th floor balcony, a Midtown East apartment building has come under fire for failing to inspect its exterior and balconies as required. Now some of its residents are showing the media its shaking railings and complaining about its stability. One told the Post, "You can see the foundation crumbling. The railing is wobbly and insecure. The railing is loose; the side isn't even attached." more ›

After learning that their 24-year-old son fell 24 floors to his death when his apartment's balcony railing gave way, Conor Donohue's parents told the Post, "We're just devastated. We're heartbroken. He was 24 years old. He was a great person who made the right choices in life." And now the Department of Buildings says the building failed to inspect the balconies as required by law. more ›

Yesterday morning, police say a man's body was discovered outside New York Tower, a 38-floor apartment building on 330 East 39th Street. According to NY1, Connor Donohue, 24, fell to his death from the 24th floor, and now the Department of Buildings has ordered that that all residents should stop using the building's balconies. more ›

There was a report of a "fatal jumper down" yesterday morning on 49th Avenue in Queens. Now the Post reports that victim was a man who posed as a potential renter at a Long Island City high-rise: Anastasi Calatzis, an out-of-work car salesman who was upset about his mother's illness and medical bills, "sent a grim text message to his brother and then jumped from the Avalon Riverview North in Long Island City." more ›

Investigators think they've solved the mystery of the missing manhole cover that should have kept a LI teen from falling to his death on Sunday. Half the lid was removed by a worker from a neighboring pizza parlor, who tried to save Amiri Zeqiri. The rest has now been extracted from the cesspool 20 feet below, using a giant red magnet. Officials told Newsday that "the cover was in place and in some kind of shape that . . . when he stepped on it, it broke apart and he fell in." Zeqiri, who worked at Dunkin Donuts, was taking trash to the dumpster when he fell into the sewage pipe. more ›

A man moving into an apartment in the Bronx fell into an empty elevator shaft and died. WABC 7 reports that Joseph Ryan and his wife were carrying a mattress to the elevator: "Eyewitness News is told the elevator doors opened, but the elevator was not there. Ryan, unaware of this, backed into the elevator without looking and he fell." He was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital around 1 a.m.; police are investigating. more ›

Authorities investigating the fatal fall of a New York hedge fund executive from an Atlantic City shopping center escalator say that the incident was an "accident." NJ resident James Vellanti had been on an escalator at the Pier Shops at Caesars on Saturday when he somehow fell. The Press of Atlantic City reports, "The escalator from which Vellanti fell travels from the third to the second floor. Frank Gilbert Jr., of Galloway Township, fell from the same one in August 2008, after witnesses said he sat on the handrail." more ›

Yesterday, a toddler fell from a second-floor window in a Brooklyn home; he later died from his injuries. According to the Daily News, 3-year-old "Devin Joseph Jr. landed in a cement alleyway after plunging out the window of a three-story home on Westminster Rd. where his parents are temporarily living." The family was living with friends because their home went into foreclosure. A witness said a crowd gathered by the alleyway, "Everybody was just in hysteria. It was really sad," and the News reports, "A safety guard could be seen in the window." And on Monday, a 1-year-old fell to his death from a second-story Flatbush home's window; WABC 7 says, "According to investigators, Marcus Olivier's mother had just given him a bath and went to get some clothes. He apparently broke through the blinds and fell out the window, hitting the concrete driveway." Mayor Bloomberg said, "The law requires guards if you have children and it also requires the managers to ask every year whether or not you need them. If you have a kid, please don't take any risks, we don't need tragedies like this." But the law only requires apartment buildings to have them—not private homes. more ›

Early yesterday morning, a woman fell to her death outside an Upper West Side townhouse. It's believed that 37-year-old woman was locked out of an apartment at 152 West 76th Street, so she tried to climb in from the outside. more ›

A man who apparently robbed a Capital One bank before fleeing the cops fell to his death from an elevated subway platform. MyFoxNY reports, "Around 1:35 p.m., the thief entered a Capital One Bank branch on 113th Street and Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, and demanded cash. A bank clerk gave the robber some cash with a dye pack." He ran to the A train station, where the Post says the dye pack exploded,which "spooked" the thief. After tossing the cash into the trash, he ran on the tracks, but cops were headed his way at 113th Street: "The bold thief, who sources said was wanted in other heists, then chose flight over fight, trying to make the 20-foot leap onto the roof of a building below. But he missed and fell to the street." more ›

This morning, a 28-year-old construction worker fell 9 stories from a building at 420 Park Avenue (at 29th Street) and was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital. The worker had landed on scaffolding of a neighboring building. CityRoom reports that, according to the Department of Buildings, it didn't appear that worker was wearing a harness and that the DOB would probably issues citations later. The 420 Park Avenue is the future home of the Gansevoort Park, a 19th story hotel run by the same group as the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking District. more ›

The police released a statement saying that the Tasering of a Brooklyn man who then fatally fell from a ledge seemed to have broken NYPD guidelines. Chief department spokesman Paul J. Browne said an airbag had been called to catch the victim, Inman Morales, but the lieutenant who issued the order for another officer to stun the man did not wait. more ›

A naked man standing on a fire escape and, later, a storefont, fell to his death after a police officer stunned him with a Taser. Based on video (below) and witness reports, Iman Morales, 35, was wielding a fluorescent light bulbs at cops who tried to get close. more ›

A 36-year-old man who was descending a Shea Stadium escalator fell to his death. Antonio Narainasami fell onto the concrete floor, in the section near the left field stands, and fell at least two stories, possibly four stories (the Times says 30 feet). more ›