By Kevin Fasick, Kirstan Conley and Michael Blaustein
The New York Post
NEW YORK — A desperate man, overwhelmed at losing his job, hopped a 6-foot barrier outside the “Top of the Rock” observation deck yesterday and spent a terrifying hour threatening to jump from the 70th-floor rooftop before he was pulled to safety.
George Ruiz, 23 - his face covered in an American-flag bandanna - dangled his legs over the ledge of the GE Building at about 3:50 p.m. while cops cleared the crowd from Rockefeller Plaza, 850 feet below.
“At one point, he stood up and put his hands on the glass,” said Detective James Coll who along with Detective Shawn Soler had joined Ruiz on the ledge and talked him down.
“We weren’t really sure if he was going to push himself off or if he was going to climb over.”
The cops, who were wearing safety harnesses, finally were able to secure him, Coll said, adding:
“He didn’t seem scared, he seemed pretty committed.”
Soler said Ruiz, a Las Vegas resident, “was very apologetic. He stated over and over again that he was sorry for taking everyone’s time, and we reassured him at that point that we were there to help him.”
Other Emergency Service Unit cops involved in the rescue were Detectives Robert Mirfield, David Smutek and John McKenna.
Ruiz’s most recent Facebook posting, on July 3, shows him to be deeply religious.
“What a wonderful day to be alive, to have another chance to fight for something deep inside. How for so long I was blind to see the heavenly Father though Christ is deep inside,” he wrote.
“This is what I pray to you heavenly Father, For I to be a good husband, and father like you, everyday that I struggle to feel Righteousness and true life!”
Witnesses described a harrowing hour as the drama played out.
“The NYPD came and tried to talk to him. He stood up and leaned back - it looked like he was going to fall,” said Gilbert Ajanoh, 28, a student from Arizona.
Marc Jensen, 21, a waiter at Rock Center Cafe, was on a break when the drama began, and he “saw people looking up.”
“I looked up and saw a guy dangling his feet over the edge. We were evacuated. People left without paying their bills,” he said.
“I just thought, ‘Oh, my God, maybe he lost his job.’ I was just hoping he wouldn’t jump.”
Copyright 2011 N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc.