March 20, 2014

"He’s a skinny kid who got through a skinny hole."

"I walked around the construction site and figured out how to access the Freedom Tower rooftop," said the 16-year-old Justin Casquejo who made it past the "ring of steel" security (AKA a "clueless" elevator operator and a sleeping guard) and was able to climb to the top of the WTC spire. He spent 2 hours cavorting — "he ran hog wild" — before he was noticed and removed.

36 comments:

George M. Spencer said...

Funny how that union worker kept his job.

Wince said...

Scrawny 16-year-old Justin Casquejo crawled through a hole in a Ground Zero fence at about 4 a.m. Sunday and got a lift up the tower from a clueless union elevator operator, even though he had no ID.

Asking for ID would have been racist.

tim maguire said...

I wonder who told him he can't talk about it. And what authority they claim.

RecChief said...

"The elevator operator who asked no questions while taking him skyward has since been reassigned — but got to keep his job because of his hardhat union."

what to make of this? might some type of negligence protection, or simply stupidity protection, from a union be prevalent in other industries? auto making perhaps? teaching?

Known Unknown said...

I can't take this ongoing fat shaming.

Hagar said...

"A crack in a barbed wire fence."

???

Henry said...
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Henry said...

"He’s a skinny kid who got through a skinny hole....and was able to climb to the top of the WTC spire."

From birth to erection, all in one night.

paul a'barge said...

Boring.

who cares?

MadisonMan said...

Funny how that union worker kept his job.

Join our Union! If you're an idiot and incompetent, we'll help you keep your job!

Tank said...

paul a'barge said...

Boring.

who cares?


And if he had a pocket full of chemical explosives?

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

And if he had a pocket full of chemical explosives?

spools of det cord would be better, though a couple of kilos of ricin or anthrax spores might be interesting...

Sorun said...

What's the point of paying union dues if the union doesn't save your ass when you fuck up?

SteveR said...

Not sure he would have made it far with a lot of bad stuff but he wouldn't need to go up there to cause big problems.

Larry J said...

He’s a skinny kid who got through a skinny hole

Sounds like Obama.

Richard Dolan said...

Nice, and good for the kid. Some rules are meant to be bent from time to time, even if it's not a good thing for them to be entirely broken. Let the great world spin.

The WTC buildings (both the ones now gone and the one going up) have an odd hold on the imagination, as they did for this kid and have for many others. Someone with a different kind of imagination might even use his adventure as the take-off point for a great novel.

mikee said...

I recall the Flying Wallenda who tightrope walked between the two towers long ago.

And I have a brother who, at nearly 60, still loves to base jump.

One can be a crazy kid, professionally crazy or a crazy old man in this wonderful country, and I encourage the crazy to continue.

mikee said...

I recall the Flying Wallenda who tightrope walked between the two towers long ago.

And I have a brother who, at nearly 60, still loves to base jump.

One can be a crazy kid, professionally crazy or a crazy old man in this wonderful country, and I encourage the crazy to continue.

bridgecross said...

Unions! I knew it was them! Even when it was the bears, I knew it was them.

bandmeeting said...

That was not a Wallenda, rather, one Phiillipe Petite.

Larry J said...

Off the topic but a note to Ann:

I don't know if it's just happening to me but for the past couple days, your website appears to be behaving badly. I'm running Internet Explorer 9 and a security notice dialog box keeps popping up saying your site (or more likely one of the linked things on your website) is trying to access information. It doesn't matter if I click yes or no on the dialog box, it keeps popping up 10-20 times in a row. Very, very annoying and it even makes it hard to shut down the entire IE window.

Carnifex said...

I cant remember where or when I saw this, I have CRS (Can't Remember Shit), but Loki was talking to one of the Avengers about how he loved Captain America, because Cap loved order so much that he gripped it in his hands so tight that it squirted out between his fingers in chaos. Segments of our society are becoming Cap's hands.

Carnifex said...

I cant remember where or when I saw this, I have CRS (Can't Remember Shit), but Loki was talking to one of the Avengers about how he loved Captain America, because Cap loved order so much that he gripped it in his hands so tight that it squirted out between his fingers in chaos. Segments of our society are becoming Cap's hands.

Known Unknown said...

I'm running Internet Explorer

I just diagnosed your problem.

LordSomber said...

Shouldn't this post have a trigger warning for acrophobes?

SayAahh said...

While cavorting for 2 hours did he hog wild pee on the spire?

Joe said...

Anyone who thinks they have impenetrable security is deluding themselves. Fortunately, smart people generally make more money through legitimate business and/or white crimes.

Lucien said...

Cool. What a great story & what a great time for the kid. I'd definitely hire someone with this on his resume.

Lucien said...

Of course it would have been cooler if he'd had a giant inflatable plastic King Kong to tether to the top of the tower.

Ann Althouse said...

Sorry about the Internet Explorer problems. I don't know how to solve them.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I admire the intrepid.

Known Unknown said...

Sorry about the Internet Explorer problems. I don't know how to solve them.

Switch to Chrome or Firefox. Solved!

Gospace said...

Back in high school (1973 grad) a friend and I traveled into Manhattan while the WTC was still under construction.Lower floors were occupied while upper floors were still being built. Walked in, took an elevator to the highest floor, found the stairs, and walked up. Toured the area under construction, waved at and talked to some of the ironworkers about what they did. Foremen noticed us- and NO POLICE WERE CALLED!

Curious teenagers going into high buildings. What a surprise. Actually, if you were a foreman looking for an apprentice to carry things, who would you want. Someone who answered an ad in the paper, or someone who was strolling around your construction site 73 stories up asking questions? Who didn't look scared? Neither of us went into the trade, but we satisfied my curiosity. And know not to complain about what ironworkers make. Not everyone is going to do that job. And a lot of people won't even go up to watch them.