24-Year-Old Dies After Trying to Climb the Four Seasons Hotel

Late Wednesday night, a 24-year-old from New Jersey and a friend climbed scaffolding outside the Four Seasons Hotel in midtown in the rain. They were not guests at the hotel, but somehow managed to get access to the scaffolding and the roof. Around 11 p.m., 20-year-old Conner Cummings slipped and fell about nine stories. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The pair were apparently trying to take pictures from the top of the 52-story building; the Post reports that Cummings was trying to take a “panoramic” photograph before he fell. They had managed to reach the 51st floor, according to the New York Times. The student’s 18-year-old friend climbed down and found help, and was interviewed by the NYPD. Cummings’s aunt told ABC7“We’re trying to get answers. They say that he went up the elevator, and then went up a stairway, and then went out on a balcony, but the cops aren’t saying exactly what happened. And, I know the medical examiner was up there. I mean, he’s a young kid, he’s a good kid, they weren’t drinking or anything, they were taking a picture.”

This post has been updated throughout.

An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Conner Cummings was 20 years old. Later updates about the incident revealed that he was in fact 24 years old. 

24-Year-Old Dies After Climbing Four Seasons