Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or having thoughts of suicide, you are not alone — and help is always available. Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to connect with a trained counselor, or chat online at 988lifeline.org. Whether you’re seeking support for yourself or someone you care about, please know that it’s never too late to reach out. You deserve help. You deserve hope. Someone is ready to listen.
By Kerry Burke and Leonard Greene
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — In a daring high-wire act high above the East River, fearless NYPD cops spent nearly an hour on a span of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge talking down a woman desperately threatening to jump.
Harrowing body camera video released by the NYPD captures the frightening moments as Emergency Service Unit officers plead with the woman to back away from the edge, as sun glistened off the cold water below.
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“This video of a rescue last night on the Brooklyn Bridge will take your breath away,” NYPD CommissionerJessica Tisch said Thursday on social media, a day after team members risked their lives to pull off the dramatic rescue.
“NYPD ESU officers climbed onto the Brooklyn Bridge to reach a woman in crisis who was threatening to jump. For nearly an hour, they stayed with her, spoke with her, and waited for the moment they could safely pull her back from the edge.”
The life-and-death rescue played out on a narrow suspension cable above shocked motorists, pedestrians and the gleaming water below the bridge.
Tisch’s post was accompanied by the video, which warned that the footage “may be distressing for some viewers.”
“My name is Chris. What’s your name,” one of the officers asked calmly as the woman sat side-saddle along the round south-facing cable. “What’s happening today? I just want to talk. I want to help you. That’s why I’m up here right now. I genuinely care. I do.”
Chris kept the interaction conversational, reasoning with the woman that she was on the verge of making a decision she could not undo.
”It’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” he said. “It really is. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I want to understand. We have services we can get you to. The strongest thing you can do right now is accept help. I promise you, that’s the strongest thing you can do.”
Tethered with a strap and metal hooking clip, the officer inched closer as he talked, making no sudden moves, his voice calm and reassuring.
A helicopter hovering above also caught video of the rescue — and the distance between the bridge and the water.
Police were responding to reports of a woman in danger on the bridge who was spotted shortly after 7:30 p.m.
Darkness began to fall as the conversation continued. But after nearly 60 minutes, relieved officers were able to convince the troubled woman to retreat to safety.
”Don’t do it. Don’t do it, please,” one officer pleaded once he was close enough to grab her behind from the waist. “I got you. You’re OK. Everything’s going to be OK. You’re not in trouble.”
Among the hundreds watching was a bridge vendor, who said he was glad for the happy ending.
“She climbed the big cable and just sat there waiting, looking like she was deciding what to do next,” the vendor said. “Cops were everywhere. They closed off the walkway and shut down traffic. They came down the cable and were talking to her. Then they suddenly grabbed her and brought her down.”
Tisch was full of praise.
“The care, courage, and compassion these officers showed was just extraordinary,” she wrote. “May God bless them.”
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