June 5, 2008
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Does Whatever A Spider Can
After Office Hours, Eugenia and I wanted cupcakes, so I ran out to Cupcake Cafe . . . when I rounded the corner at 40th Street, I noticed a bunch of people standing on the corner, staring at the New York Times building and taking pictures with their phones and cameras.
“It’s Spiderman!” one man yelled.
“That dude is [effin]‘ climbing!” another practically screamed into his phone.Alain Robert, a French climate change activist/attention whore with a fantastic talent, drew crowds, stopped traffic and was arrested atop the 52nd floor of the building.
Times employees stood against the windows and looked up at him; crowds below cheered and whistled when he reached the top.
As for me, I was fighting to get back to the building and felt like a fish swimming upstream. “I think we’re the only two people in New York who don’t care about this,” the guy next to me said. “You must not watch a lot of TV.”
“I watch too much,” I replied, “so I guess I’m just desensitized.” He went on to tell me the story of a daredevil who performed a sort of demented tightrope walk between the two World Trade Center towers and had to perform in front of elementary schoolers as his community service punishment.
When I got back to our building, ready to break the news, everyone was already watching him climb from our windows that face the building. We went up to the roof and watched as he scaled the building and climbed to the top.
So while it was hard to hear the cheering from the helicopters flying overhead and now everyone’s going back to their normally scheduled events, for that moment, I think we all felt like extras in a Spiderman movie. It’s one of those ridiculous New York moments you’ll remember for a long time.
Comments (29)
And here my San Francisco moment involved a Dalek.
I was watching bits on the news. I saw him get arrested though!!! Which I think is kind of lame because he didn’t really cause anyone any harm….
Oh and guess who came through my checkpoint today!!! The Naked Cowboy! Guess what he was wearing….His tighty whities, boots, cowboy hat…and…..a thick FUR COAT! Hahahah!!! He refused to take off his coat and so had to go through private screening. Go fig. The one guy that stands in his skivies in the dead of winter in Times Square refuses to show his body at the security line in Newark. Hahahahah! Priceless!
like the mini says….
im on cam
At least he was doing it for a good cause.
I don’t know how I would react to that. I’d probably watch for a couple of minutes then walk away.
Did you hear that generic woman cry/scream in the crowd that you hear in old 1920′s movies?
There was a random huge herd of goats on the freeway here in San Jose. Strange things are afoot!
get on my chat please….
Yeah, but Xanga has theblackspiderman. And nobody has to get arrested! Xanga’s so cool.
That’s crazy insane.
dude. i’da watched in case he fell.
can’t believe i wasted my day off at home.
I’m jealous! That sounds awesome! But alas I am never in that area and thus would never have stumbled upon it anyway.
They actually made a documentary about the Twin Towers guy called Man On Wire. It played at Tribeca and I wanted to see it but didn’t get a chance.
@nuanniel - that sounds netflixable when it comes out
i’m so there
Like I mentioned in the video comment, watch it really be like David Blaine or Criss Angel doing this for their next television event…lol.
Hey there! Hope weather for you is better in NYC than here in
Columbus – it is hot, humid, hazy, and we have an ozone alert. Yuck.
I miss New York! Moments like these remind me I am a New Yorker and a rush of crazy stuff floods my mind!
While I am impressed with the guy’s climbing feat, I am more impressed that you have a cupcake cafe. Only in New York, I guess
nothing like that ever happens in north dakota
That is fricking amazing!
I understand what you mean. Just like 9/11, right? But, as I said on 9/11, the mini knows what i mean! Why did he climb that building? 9/11 scared the crud out of me, so i am here to say…
naeby- Ha ha! NYC is the city of attention!!! Why? Cuz’ we rock, duh! Um… that’s it.
He said “effin’”?
@Amandasbiggestfan - no, hence brackets – they were choice words
Never a dull moment in NYC, eh Natalia? *wink*
OK…. but back to “The Cupcake Cafe”???
WOWSER!!!!!!!!!!
Round here I have to make my own!
@Cyn59 - so true.
@seedsower - we’ll take you and angi when you come visit!
see…. things like this don’t happen in small town rural illinois
even if they did, what would they climb? the story and a half factory with the big paintings of Bible verses on the wall? the one level post office? maybe the water tower!!
heat waves in NY and the east coast.
have you all melted yet?