(Stjepan Pavich / Gothamist)
[UPDATE BELOW] A 45-year-old man fell to his death onto scaffolding outside of a building near City Hall this morning. Thus far no criminality is suspected by the NYPD, but officials would not confirm that the man jumped. Paramedics accessed the scaffolding outside of 225 Broadway to reach the body after receiving a call at 7:25 this morning; police tell us the man worked in the building.
Graphic photos sent in by a tipster show blood on sidewalk below the scaffolding where the body landed.
In an email, one witness says:
“When I got there I saw at least one cruiser and two emergency response vans. They had cones beyond the police tape and were restricting traffic slightly more than the choke point heading toward the WTC construction site. Two uniformed officers were going through that pile of trash and possibly bagging things but had moved on when I went to take pictures. The cops were replaced around the perimeter by the downtown ambassadors in the red.”
The identity of the deceased has not been released pending the notification of his family. The Post reports that the man was an attorney whose office is on the 12th floor.
Update 2:03 p.m.:: Police have identified the deceased man as Leonard Morton, an attorney who ran his own practice in the building. The police have yet to determine a cause of death for the Upper West Side resident. In addition to his practice, Morton was an adjunct professor at Hunter College.
h/t – gothamist
