NEW YORK — A 24-year-old man from Toronto was taken into police custody Saturday after scaling a massive sculpture at the site of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in New York.
New York police were called to Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park after the man was spotted on a landing about halfway up a bright red, 70-foot abstract sculpture called Joie de Vivre.
The man told police he wouldn’t come down until New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg resigned and all police officers left the park.
New York police officer James Duffy said the police’s emergency service unit and expert negotiators were called in to help.
“We had police officers there, obviously, for the demonstration,” Duffy said.
“But we had our emergency service unit respond, and our hostage negotiation team respond, not because he had hostages but just because they are skilled in dealing with people, especially irrational people.”
After about three hours, the man voluntarily came down from the sculpture in a basket crane alongside an officer.
Duffy said the man was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
“He was handcuffed for his safety and for the safety of the officers,” he said.
“That’s how we deal with emotionally disturbed people, which is how we’re looking at this incident right now.”
Police said they aren’t treating the incident as a criminal matter for the moment, and the length of the evaluation is up to doctors at the hospital.
Police have confirmed the 24-year-old is a Canadian from Toronto but are not releasing his identity.
The incident has received widespread media coverage in New York, where the Occupy Wall Street protests at Zuccotti Park have been ongoing for more than a month.
Some protesters told local media the stunt was a distraction from the movement.