A first date ended in unimaginable horror Thursday when an ad exec plunged to her death after the railing of her narrow 16th-floor balcony suddenly buckled.
Jennifer Rosoff, 35, brought Stephen Close back to her apartment on E. 57th St. near First Ave. after they chowed down at Maya, a Mexican restaurant about eight blocks away.
They walked through a set of French doors that open to the balcony. Rosoff was smoking a cigarette and had a drink. She sat on the metal railing about 12:45 a.m., which instantly made Close nervous.
“He advised her not to sit on the rail,” said Paul Browne, the NYPD’s chief spokesman. “She said that she had done it before and wasn’t worried. She didn’t think it was a problem.”
Close, who lives nearby, told detectives that he heard “two cracks or pops.”
The metal railing at Stonehenge 57 bent, sending her falling backward 140 feet. She landed on construction scaffolding outside the first story of a building in front of the Sofrito restaurant and died instantly.
Police questioned Close, who works in real estate, but cops don’t suspect foul play.
Residents heard Close, 35, screaming. And some saw him in the lobby after he emerged from the elevator.
“He was hysterical,” a resident said of the devastated date.
The Department of Buildings was investigating the accident, city spokeswoman Kelly Magee said. As a precaution, the agency issued a vacate order for all balconies in the building. The corner apartments on the higher floors have balconies.
City law requires all buildings over six floors inspect their exteriors, including balconies, every five years. A licensed expert must issue a report declaring the areas “safe,” “unsafe” or “safe with a repair and maintenance program.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/woman-35-dies-17th-floor-balcony-collapses-article-1.1414513#ixzz2aqVSJhCE
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