On Wednesday, Jorge Ruiz climbed over a glass barrier and placed himself on the ledge of 30 Rockefeller Plaza’s observation deck, planning to jump after becoming distraught over news regarding publication of a book he’d written.
At about 3:50 p.m., the 23-year-old from Las Vegas, managed to get himself over a 6-foot glass wall and get out far enough out into the New York skyline that people on the street below could see the suicidal man.
When police were alerted of the man’s intentions, they ordered everyone on the observation deck away, and began trying to talk him down.
Ruiz, a diagnosed schizophrenic, told police he was upset that a book he had written was not going to be published.
Witnesses say there were many moments in which they thought they were going to see a man fall to his death, as he kept standing up and sitting down.
Finally, at around 4:50 p.m., police were able to talk Ruiz back off the ledge. He was immediately taken to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
