He really loves high life.
Sixteen-year-old Alejandro De La Torre says he’s been climbing the town’s tallest structures for the last two years and hasn’t been caught – until last week – when he and 4 buddies were caught climbing to the highest of the Williamsburg Bridge.
“I just really enjoyed the adrenaline rush – and the fear factor,” De La Torre told The Post this week in an exclusive interview.
De La Torre was a bored 12-year-old and recent to East Elmhurst, Queens when he began exploring abandoned buildings around the town along with his friends.
Someday in June 2021, he decided to climb onto the roof of an empty school near Tompkins Square Park.
He was addicted.
“I used to be wondering how high can I am going?” – he said.
It has change into a habit. He picked as many as three targets per week and posted chilling photos of his conquests – allegedly over 100 – on Instagram.
“I actually enjoyed the sensation of being really high,” he said.
Urban exploits
The teenager quickly learned easy methods to hide in buildings and sneak past security as if he owned a joint.
Once inside, he climbed the steps as high as he could, found a door or window, went outside, and climbed outside with none safety gear.
“You only should plan the very best option to stand up… I often climb to get to the very best point since it’s inaccessible [from the roof]- explained the teenager.
His climbs include the highest of the 77-story Chrysler Constructing, the 1,066-foot Brooklyn Tower, and the 200-foot Verrazano Bridge.
“You’ve to be confident in your physical abilities so you do not overstep, jump over or jump over something,” he said, adding that he sometimes jumps off ledges and creates human ladders with other climbers as a method to get to the highest.
He said security guards were rarely, if ever, an issue, adding that sneaking around surveillance cameras was a breeze.
“I’m really fast at what I do,” he remarked.
Mountain climbing around buildings “may be very just like mountain climbing,” says De La Torre, who prefers Zara shoes to specialist shoes.
“They’re quite stylish” and “durable,” he said.
His immortal hobby was discovered by his parents when a cousin noticed De La Torre’s Instagram posts and revealed the reality in August.
“Obviously, my parents didn’t want me to fall or get seriously injured,” said De La Torre, who added that his mum and pop never condoned it but were unable to stop him.
Mountain climbers unite
During his exploits, the Townsend Harris High School student met “a complete underground community” of like-minded thrill-seekers, a few of whom flew with him to 5 boroughs from Canada or Los Angeles to climb with him.
“The variety of times I’ve bumped into other people hitting the identical constructing at the identical time may be very high,” said De La Torre.
An important rule of the community is “Leave nothing but footprints; do nothing but take pictures,” he revealed.
The respect of other daredevils is gained by performing dangerous acrobatics.
“Sometimes it happens to me [climb] really crazy stuff and I’m like, “Wow, I just did that.” I’m the primary 15 yr old, 16 yr old to hit it. … So having that bragging rights or that have, that story to inform in the long run, is what I’m going for,” he said.
The teenager claims that he only had one very close conversation.
“I almost fell lol,” De La Torre captioned a February 13 Instagram post, where photos show half of his body hanging from a red construction crane above Park Avenue.
“The rationale I used to be terrified was because something was shaking – it was windy,” he said.
Bridge bust
The teenager claimed to have been to the highest of the Williamsburg Bridge greater than a dozen times before the cops caught him and handcuffed him last week – an arrest that prompted an offended response. Mayor Adams to denounce illegal excesses.
“As we proceed to strive to make this city the safest major city in America, we do not need social media to contribute to civil unrest,” the mayor said at a press conference the day after the March 29 arrests.
De La Torre dismissed Hizzoner’s concerns.
“It is a victimless crime that may not meant to harm anyone,” he said.
In response to Adams’ call for the town to crack down on such dangerous stunts, “Personally, I’d say [Adams] that it is not going to occur any time soon – and that I’d like to see him give it a try,” De La Torre said.
He claimed that the fateful Williamsburg Bridge ascent was simply to capture the sunset, and it only broke down because too many kids joined in.
“I just thought there could be three of us,” said De La Torre, “and after I got there my friend told me there would actually be five of us.
“That is plenty of people, especially in relation to doing this stuff in broad daylight.”
A sixth climber who was not caught climbed a constructing on the Brooklyn side of the bridge to take a photograph of the group. study photography in college.
They flew through the fenced-off stairs and climbed a ladder to the highest of the bridge tower when someone spotted the youngsters and called the police, who quickly arrived with lifeboats and a helicopter.
“We ended up hiding within the lobby of the tower because all of us got scared,” recalls De La Torre.
After being led by law enforcement down the bridge, the kids were handcuffed and brought to the ninetieth Precinct where they were summoned to the crime and their parents were summoned.
All children will now should appear in family court, where they face fines of as much as $500.
I’m retiring – I promise!
In Brooklyn family court on Thursday, De La Torre avoided all fines and was as an alternative given 90 days probation.
Along with weekly visits to a probation officer, De La Torre is required to receive psychological help twice per week and complete a “fix all the things” task, in accordance with court papers he received.
The true punishment for De La Torre was spending the night in a Brooklyn prison cell – an experience he called “really mentally torturous.”
“I needed to sleep on a picket bench all night because my parents wanted me to review. I love them for that, truthfully, because I’ve definitely learned my lesson,” he said.
“I used to be just considering how it could affect my performance” and “How am I going to apologize to my mom and pop this time” … I used to be just telling myself that it wasn’t value getting arrested and having such serious consequences.
He continued, “I would like to vow myself to not do it again because I don’t need to completely smash my life.”