Stunning bodycam footage has revealed the intense moment when courageous NYPD officers rescued a woman perched perilously on the edge of a New York City skyscraper.

On Thursday at around 1:30 p.m., officers from the New York City Police Department responded to a call about a woman in distress atop the Avalon Willoughby Square building in downtown Brooklyn.

Upon arriving, a team comprising a male and a female officer swiftly ascended the 58-story tower, where they found the emotional 41-year-old woman sitting on the ledge. They immediately began efforts to coax her back to safety.

“Ma’am? Hi ma’am. Please don’t do it, please come back,” the male officer urged, his voice captured on the police video, which kept the woman’s identity confidential.

From her position over halfway up the skyscraper, the woman could be heard sobbing as officers gently asked for her name.

She answered through tears before an officer asked her: ‘What’s going on?’ 

‘Tell my mom and dad that I love them,’ the tearful woman said as her dress flapped in the wind. 

‘Please don’t do it, we care about you,’ the male officer immediately replied. ‘Listen, we care about you, we don’t want to see you hurt yourself, ok?’ 

Harrowing police bodycam footage captured the moment brave NYPD officers rescued a distraught woman from the top of a skyscraper on Thursday afternoon 

‘Tell my mom and dad that I love them,’ the tearful woman said as her dress and long brunette hair flapped in the wind

A male officer stayed by the woman’s side the whole time, gripping her hand in his as he spoke to her

The distressed woman then repeated herself before the cop asked if he could approach her. 

After she agreed, the officer instantly rushed over to her, and grabbed her hand and said: ‘Listen, we care about you. 

‘We don’t want you to hurt yourself, ok? We don’t want you to hurt yourself ok?’ 

‘Listen, whatever you’re going through, we can fix it. We can try to fix it, ok?’ he added as he continued to reassure the woman. 

She kept a strong grip on the officer’s hands before replying: ‘Take me to the hospital.’ 

‘Yes, we’ll take you to the hospital,’ the male officer responded before the camera angle changed, showing the officer consoling her. 

‘I’m positive, we can do whatever you wanna do, ok? Anything is better than this,’ the officer said, crouching down and making eye contact with her through the plexiglass while still holding her hand. 

‘Please, please let me help you,’ he said as the footage turned to members of the Emergency Service Unit darting upstairs with rescue equipment. 

Once at the scene, unit members attached ropes and carabiners to a first responder, who immediately rushed over to the woman. 

While responding officers tried to calm the 41-year-old woman down, members of the Emergency Service Unit raced upstairs with gear to save her

Once strapped into ropes and carabiners, a first responder got on the ledge with her and spoke to the emotional woman

The first responder swiftly lifted himself over the tall glass before talking to the distressed woman. 

He looked at her and said: ‘Hey, I’m here now, ok? Listen, I’m here now, ok? I told you I was gonna help you right? I told you that, right?’ 

The woman continued to cry as she held onto the NYPD cop’s hand through a space between the glass. 

‘Listen to me, we’re gonna do this together, ok? We can sit here for 10 minutes, we can sit here for half-an-hour,’ the member of the Emergency Service Unit told her. 

‘Look at me in my eyes, ok? I want to make sure that you’re safe and that you’re ok. Like I said, whatever it is that you may be going through, ok, I want to help you. I will personally help you,’ he added. 

The rescuer then put his hand out, leading the woman to grab onto him. 

‘Ok, can we go back over?,’ he asked her. 

She replied: ‘No! Not yet.’ 

‘Ok, that’s fine. Hey, listen, I have you…. Trust me, believe me, I have you. We’re gonna do this together,’ he said before making a lighthearted joke in an apparent attempt to make her feel more comfortable. 

‘Listen, look where we’re at,’ he said as he pointed out to the sunny New York City skyline. 

The woman then grabbed his hand as the two of them sat stories high 

Once agreeing to go back over the plexiglass, a group of officers helped her get to safety

‘We have the best view in the city, alright? And we’re here together.’ 

Another officer then wrapped his arms around the woman’s back as the one holding her hand helped her get on her feet. 

A group of officers then helped guide her over the other side of the glass, bringing her to safety. 

The NYPD commended everyone involved for their life-saving efforts that day. 

‘Heroism and heart from NY’s Finest,’ the agency wrote on social media. 

‘When a woman was seated on the ledge of a high-rise building in Brooklyn, our officers quickly responded, using their training to save her life. 

‘This is what it takes to protect and serve.’ 

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced on Sunday that it is actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the evacuation of a Frontier Airlines flight at Denver International Airport. The incident occurred when the aircraft tragically struck and killed a pedestrian on the runway during takeoff.

The aircraft was bound for Los Angeles International Airport when, at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday, it reported hitting a pedestrian. This information was confirmed through a post by the airport on its official X account.

Following the collision, passengers were swiftly evacuated using emergency slides, and they were subsequently transported to the airport terminal by bus. According to an airport spokesperson, twelve passengers sustained minor injuries, of which five required hospitalization.

Concerns have been raised by some of the evacuees regarding the evacuation process. They described being trapped inside the plane for several minutes as smoke permeated the cabin and expressed discomfort about being left on the tarmac in the cold after disembarking. Video footage from the scene also revealed that some passengers descended the slide with what appeared to be their carry-on luggage.

Sarah Taylor Sulick, an NTSB spokesperson, stated early on Sunday that the board is collecting information on the emergency evacuation to assess whether it warrants a formal safety investigation. She noted that additional details might become available within a few hours.

Frontier Airlines didn’t respond early Sunday to a request for information about the evacuation.

The person, who authorities have still not identified, was hit two minutes after jumping the fence and crossing the runway. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.

“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”

The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”

Frontier Airlines said in a statement that flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the collision.

The airline said the plane was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members.

“We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities,” the airline said.

Passengers said panic took hold on the flight after an engine caught fire and the cabin began filling with smoke.

“Honestly, I thought I was going to die,” passenger Mohamed Hassan told Colorado’s 9NEWS.

“A lot of people next to me were screaming and crying. I just closed my eyes,” he said. “At that time, you’re not really thinking of anything, you know? Because we were just about to take off and I heard that boom, so I wasn’t sure what happened. I just thought something really, really bad happened.”

Passenger Nikil Thalanki told local media outlets that he felt “this jerk” as the plane was about to take off, adding that it felt like the wheels had left the ground but then came back down.

“There was fire on the engine. There was lots of sparks that are happening. Immediately came to a stop,” Thalanki said. “As soon as we saw the sparks on the flight, smoke filled the cabin completely. It was super hard to breathe.”

Kimberly Randle said passengers were panicking and desperate to get off the aircraft.

“In a few minutes, they finally opened the door. People were running to get out of the plane,” he said. “It was chaos everywhere.”

The NTSB has for years expressed concerned about evacuations, especially passengers leaving with their carry-ons. In an April report on the evacuation aboard a United Airlines flight at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the NTSB described a troubling scene.

Passengers were evacuated via slides and stairs last year from the jetliner after an engine problem during takeoff caused smoke and fire on the right wing.

Despite the flight attendant telling passengers to remain seated, several began shouting, “fire on the engine, let me get out!” That trigged “widespread panic” and prompted many passengers to get up and start retrieving their belongings. Some climbed over seats and began obstructing the aisle.

Three large men insisted the evacuation occur, pushing past a flight attendant and going down a slide before it had fully deployed – causing it to deflate and become unusable.

“Cabin crew training emphasizes assertive command presence and passenger control during evacuations; however, this event demonstrates how rapidly escalating passenger behavior can affect evacuation dynamics even in the absence of confirmed fire or smoke conditions,” according to the report.

The incident in Denver came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident or the name of the employee.

“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. “We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”

___

AP reporter John Raby contributed from Charleston, West Virginia.

In a tragic escalation of conflict, Russian drone and missile attacks claimed the lives of at least 22 individuals and left over 80 injured across Ukraine on Tuesday. This surge in violence unfolded mere hours before Ukraine had planned to initiate a ceasefire and just days before a temporary halt in hostilities had been announced by Moscow.

Among the hardest-hit areas were the Ukrainian cities of Kramatorsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernihiv, where devastating glide bomb attacks in the afternoon resulted in the deaths of at least 17 civilians and injuries to 45 others. The Associated Press reported that overnight assaults also contributed to the grim toll, with five fatalities and 39 people wounded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his outrage over the timing of these attacks, criticizing what he described as the “absolute cynicism” of demanding silence for propagandistic purposes while simultaneously launching missile and drone strikes. He shared his sentiments on social media platform X, highlighting the stark contrast between the rhetoric and actions of the Russian government.

In the aftermath, emergency services were quick to respond, working tirelessly to extinguish fires ignited by the drone strikes in the Kyiv region. This scene of devastation underscores the ongoing human cost of the conflict.

President Zelenskyy also noted that Russia holds the power to bring the war to an end at any given moment, emphasizing the urgent need for resolution and peace.

“Every day, Russia could cease fire, and that would stop the war and our responses. Peace is needed, and real steps are required for it. Ukraine will act in kind,” he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry previously said it would impose a unilateral ceasefire on Friday and Saturday for Victory Day, but warned it would retaliate if Ukraine disrupts events, The Associated Press reported.

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site following a Russian air attack in Zaporizhzhia on May 5, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Darya Nazarova/AFP)

The United Nations welcomed the moves, with Secretary-General António Guterres urging a full ceasefire.

Guterres called for “a full, immediate, unconditional and lasting ceasefire, leading to a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace, in line with the U.N. Charter, international law and relevant U.N. resolutions,” The Associated Press reported.

Victory Day, observed each year on May 9 in Russia, marks the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky held a joint press conference with Spain’s Prime Minister at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid on March 18, 2026. (Javier Soriano/AFP)

Russia has previously announced short holiday truces — most recently for Orthodox Easter — but they have failed to hold amid persistent mistrust between the two countries.

During that ceasefire, Ukraine’s military reported more than 2,200 violations, including shelling, assaults and drone activity. 

Russia’s Defense Ministry, in turn, accused Ukrainian forces of nearly 2,000 breaches, including strikes in border regions that it said injured civilians.

Glen Weiss, the Executive Vice-President of Vornado, affirmed at a Real Deal forum last week that the company is moving forward with its planned skyscraper project at 350 Park Avenue, which is set to be anchored by Ken Griffin’s Citadel companies. “You should assume we’re in,” Weiss confidently stated.

Weiss further emphasized that demolition has begun and the company is poised to proceed, dismissing media reports to the contrary as “not accurate.”

However, the lingering question remains: Will Ken Griffin stay committed to the project following a vehement video critique by Mayor Zohran Mamdani?

Griffin, who partners with Vornado and the Rudin organization on this venture, previously mentioned that he and his partners are “reviewing” their involvement in the project.

Should Griffin decide to withdraw, Vornado might also reconsider its position, as the company holds the option to exit the project by mid-July, a stipulation detailed in numerous prior public SEC filings.

CBRE global brokerage chief Stephen B. Siegel, who was on the Real Deal panel, told the audience that, “Unfortunately, our mayor’s DNA is not to work with the elite or the rich or the successful.”

He later told Realty Check he regarded Mamdani as “dangerous” to the city. Even so, he downplayed the idea that Griffin’s intention to increase his amount of office space in Miami meant he would reduce it in New York necessarily.

“He was already planning” to enlarge the Florida office footprint before Mamdani went on the attack, Siegel said. “Let’s hope it’s all he does.”