Tourist’s Selfie Atop Brooklyn Bridge Renews Security Concerns

July 1, 2015 11:36 am

A tourist has sparked security fears in New York after climbing on to Brooklyn Bridge to take a selfie.

David Karnauch became the fourth tourist to clamber on to the structure in less than a year – and said he was never questioned or stopped by anyone before making the ‘impulsive’ climb.

In a photo posted to Instagram, he is seen in sunglasses and a short-sleeved shirt taking a photo with a selfie stick while standing precariously on a metal bar above the flow of traffic.

Speaking to NBC 4 New York over Skype from his home in Chattanooga, Tennesse, he said: ‘You could just get on a beam and it actually had handrails on the left and right side, and I just walked across the bridge and turned around to take a picture.

‘I don’t recommend anybody else do it. It’s not a smart thing to do because I know they take security on the bridges seriously.’

The NYPD said yesterday in a statement it doesn’t consider Karnauch’s climb a security breach.

A spokesman said: ‘The person most endangered was the individual whose goal seems to be bringing attention to himself.

‘It was however, irresponsible and illegal. Had the officers patrolling the bridge arrived while he was there, he would have been arrested, as others have been. When he called the act “not a smart thing to do,” he described it correctly.’

The fact that Karnauch was able to climb on to the bridge so easily will be a worry to some.