UPDATED, 1:50 p.m., Dec. 31: A 24-year-old man died Wednesday night after falling nine stories at the Four Seasons hotel in Midtown, where he and a friend had climbed exterior scaffolding to take photos, according to police.
Conner Cummings, of Rockaway, N.J., and an 18-year-old friend scaled the scaffolding up to the 51st floor of the 52-story hotel, located at 57 East 57th Street between Park and Madison avenues, to take photos of the Manhattan skyline.
Cummings slipped at around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday and fell nine stories before landing on a set-back roof. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The pair gained access to one of the building’s midlevel roofs before climbing up scaffolding attached to an air shaft, according to the New York Times. Neither Cummings nor his friend were guests at the hotel.
Cummings’ friend was not arrested and investigators do not suspect any criminal activity, according to DNAinfo.
“Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased and we extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to them,” the Four Seasons said in a statement.
The hotel owner, Ty Warner, declined a $900 million offer from an unidentified Asian investor in 2012. Warner purchased the 368-room hotel in 1999 for $275 million. [DNAinfo] and [NYT] – Rey Mashayekhi