A 44-year-old man climbed to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday afternoon and, after attaching several flags, stripped naked before leaping into the East River.
Witnesses reported that the individual displayed a Kazakh flag and a blanket bearing indecipherable writing before removing his clothing.
Police officers from the Emergency Services Unit urged the man to descend, but he ignored the pleas and jumped from the bridge’s suspension tower.
Video of the incident shows the man holding a piece of fabric above his head as he fell several hundred feet into the water.
First‑responders rescued the jumper from the river and identified him as Galymzhan Abaildayev, a Brooklyn resident.
Abaildayev was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he remains in stable condition without life‑threatening injuries.
The bridge’s towers rise approximately 278 feet, making the fall comparable to striking a solid surface; such impacts can cause concussions, fractures, spinal injuries, or paralysis.
Authorities have charged Abaildayev with reckless endangerment, graffiti, public lewdness, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.
If convicted, the charges could result in several years of imprisonment.
