Hi my name is Bev and I've lived in my community for 35 years. In the last 24 hours my neighborliness has manifested itself in some interesting ways! I got a flu shot (2 weeks after getting a COVID booster shot), bought a cookie from the wonderful local bakery (
ChocNYC) even though I'm an excellent baker myself. And yesterday a friend and I anxiously watched 3 young teenage boys we have never met, who we thought were putting themselves in danger.
They were climbing along the edge of cliffs that drop 110 feet into the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, which is not a creek but the place where the Harlem River and Hudson River meet. One of the boys jumped into the water from the highest point, continuing a long tradition/rite of passage in the area. The conventional wisdom is that this is just good clean fun, but my friend and I, both mothers of grown children, were alarmed by the plunge. I did something I have never, ever done--I called 911. Though I described clearly what was going on and repeatedly told the dispatcher that no one was injured, the message was not transmitted clearly. The response included a huge police vehicle, 2 vans and a helicopter! Apparently
jumping means
suicide on a 911 call. The police came and left. My friend and I stayed and watched the boys until we saw that they all left the cliffs in one piece
2021/10/11 Cliff Jumpers In Marble Hill
My wife and her friend, sitting in Inwood Hill Park, saw these boys jumping off a cliff in Marble Hill, just north of Manhattan. It seemed a little too dange...
