A WCBS 2 producer says the High Bridge's railings are too hot to handle—and has a pretty gross injury to prove it.
Producer Tara Cifarelli told WCBS 2 (of course) that she had been visiting the High Bridge last week on a 90-plus-degree day:
“It’s kind of one of those things where I didn’t realize how bad it was until I got to the top of the stairs and I saw my hand oozing,” Cifarelli said...
She was climbing up a daunting, steep staircase to High Bridge Park while harboring a severe fear of heights.
“The adrenaline — I’m trying to get up the stairs, so I just kept going, and it wasn’t until I got to the top when I was like, ‘Oh my God, I really hurt myself,’” Cifarelli said.
Cifarelli was holding on to the railing super tight for her entire trek up the staircase.
When reporter Hazel Sanchez visited the staircase yesterday, "the railing was about 120 degrees, and Sanchez could already feel a stinging burn on her only halfway up." Cifarelli's burn is pretty gross:
You can get a second degree burn from 120-degree temperatures after exposure for eight minutes; if it's hotter, you can burn even faster.
The bridge, which connects Manhattan and the Bronx, reopened in June after decades of disrepair. The Parks Department says that no one else has complained... but maybe they'll put up signs?
