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NEW YORK CITY – A 16-year-old Filipino boy’s sense of adventure shook New York to the core.
Justin Casquejo, from Weehawken, New Jersey, managed to sneak into the One World Trade Center building all the way to the top 104th floor undetected by the building’s tight security.
According to CBS News, he is facing charges of criminal trespass punishable by 3 months in jail, despite an apology to “anyone who may have been insulted or felt disrespected by my actions.”
Insulted? That would be the Filipino Americans who are burying their heads that another one of their own is stirring up trouble and causing an “embarrassment” to the community. “Dumb” was another word dumped on Casquejo by angry Pinoys.
Casquejo said he climbed through a gap in the fence around the construction zone at One World Trade Center and then climbed a scaffolding to the 6th floor.
From there, he took the elevator to the 88th floor, where he continued on the stairs up to the 104th floor at the top of the skyscraper.
The young daredevil then climbed a ladder to reach the antenna of the famous tower, which is being built on the site of the former Twin Towers, destroyed by the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Authorities confiscated the boy’s cell phone and camera. Casquejo was freed Monday and will need to face a judge later.
The security guard posted to the 104th floor was apparently asleep when the boy slipped past him. He has since been fired.
The building, deemed to be the tallest US skyscraper once completed, will stand 1,776 feet (541 meters) tall and is slated to be inaugurated next year.
One WTC is the first of the buildings to rise at the site of the Twin Towers complex that collapsed during the terror attacks of 9/11. It is all of 1,776 feet, according to its website, the “tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere” and the 4th tallest in the world.
The building is almost complete, and security is supposed to be over the top, pun totally intended. How then was a curious, possibly looking-for-a thrill type teenager able to give himself a tour of the tower and take pictures – his own bragging rights version of conquering Mount Everest?
“I walked around the construction site and figured out how to access the Freedom Tower rooftop. I found a way up through the scaffolding, climbed onto the 6th floor, and took the elevator up to the 88th floor. I then took the staircase up to 104th (floor). I went to the rooftop and climbed the ladder all the way to the antenna.” This was how Casquejo explained to police his actions, according to a criminal complaint.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was beyond shocked but trusted the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the WTC buildings, to review all security measures after this incident.
“He’s done everyone a service,” said TV personality George Stephanopoulos of the boy’s brazen act. “It’s a wake-up call.” – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com
This story was republished with permission and with edits from The FilAm, an online magazine for Filipino Americans in New York.
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