7/8/2012
By Ivan Pereira
A Virginia thrill seeker has joined the long list of wannabe “Spider-Men” who tried to turn New York into their acrobatic arena.
Christian Lopez, 35, earned a trip to the hospital, along with 15 minutes of fame, when he fell 30 feet from Belvedere Castle in Central Park Sunday, breaking his arm.
Lopez was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital after paramedics and police rushed to help him.
The New York Post reported that Lopez will need surgery for his arm but he’s expected to make a full recovery.
Lopez also is going to feel some pain in his wallet, as the police slapped him with a criminal trespass summons of an unspecified amount, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.
“It is something that is not easily accessible. He had to go through the bushes to get to that wall,” the spokeswoman said.
The NYPD said Lopez had rock climbing equipment on him when emergency workers aided him, but it didn’t look like he used it.
“He’s a self-proclaimed rock climber,” the police spokeswoman said.
Lopez’s girlfriend, who was vacationing with him in the city, told the New York Post that Lopez was looking to find a place to go rock climbing and the castle caught his eye.
His alleged antics mirror the stunts of others in recent history who wanted to get up close and personal with the city’s iconic buildings and landmarks.
In 2008, three men tried to scale The New York Times building on 42nd Street but none of them got past the 11th floor of the 52-story tower.
All of the climbers, including one who tried to hang a banner that advertised his website, were arrested and did not get hurt.
Famously — or perhaps infamously — daredevil George Willig scaled the south tower of the World Trade Center in 1977.
Despite being fined $1.10 for the climb, Willig became a sensation on talk shows for his stunt.
