Security is tight around the tower, which is the site of Trump’s campaign launch and is also his residence.
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Police had earlier closed several streets near the building in one of the city’s busiest areas and put an inflatable landing pad on East 56th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues. “The climber has been taken into custody”, a police spokesman tweeted.
The climber scaled the 68-story building for over three hours, making it to the 21st floor before police caught him.
Witnesses say the 19-year-old Virginia man started climbing the skyscraper around 4 p.m. and managed to dodge police for almost three hours. “His sole intention was to meet with Mr. Trump”.
At a news conference later the New York Police Department said the unidentified man did not express a desire to harm anyone and said his mission was to get a meeting with Trump.
Onlookers started documenting the man’s ascent on social media shortly after 4 p.m., saying he had reached the 5th floor of the 58-story building on 5th Avenue.
Trump, who was on his presidential campaign tour in Virginia, wasn’t there to see the spectacle.
The climber kept his distance by methodically working his way back and forth across the facade, repeatedly repositioning suction cups resembling a type commonly used by window washers to remove big panes of glass. “There’s damage to the building and he caused the unnecessary deployment of New York’s finest to protect his safety and the safety of everyone in the building”, said Michael D. Cohen, special counsel to the Trump Organization. “I’m 100 per cent certain the NYPD had better things to do”. Officers smashed windows and broke through ventilation ducts to block his progress.
An individual appeared to be talking with the man through the empty window frame, but the man began moving away again, climbing even higher.
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Terraces and other parts of the building are open to the public during the day.
