TikTok stunt fail leads to pair of teens facing charges, the NYPD says

Two teenagers face criminal charges in connection with a stunt gone wrong in which a 16-year-old Lynbrook boy became trapped for several hours inside a pillar of the 59th Street Bridge.

On Thursday, the NYPD arrested and charged a 14-year-old male with criminal trespass and reckless endangerment for his alleged role in the Monday incident authorities previously described as a social media stunt, a department spokesperson said. A day before, police took a 15-year-old boy into custody on a related criminal trespass charge, according to the NYPD.

The identities of the two teens charged and the boy who was trapped were not released by the NYPD.

Using ropes and specialty equipment, 75 FDNY members rescued the boy after he fell 50 feet down the inside of one of the bridge’s buttresses, Newsday reported. He was hospitalized for treatment of hypothermia, Lynbrook Police Chief Brian Paladino told Newsday.

Authorities first learned of the incident about 5:15 p.m. Monday when an anonymous caller said the teen might be hurt, but that his location was unknown, Paladino said. Police then found the teenager’s friend who had allegedly recorded the stunt, but left the bridge without calling authorities.

Police drove the friend and his father to the bridge to point out the pillar where the teen was trapped, Paladino said. The structure, formally known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, connects Manhattan and Queens.

Video of the stunt, which does not include the fall but shows someone in a hole making noise, was posted on TikTok, Instagram or both, Newsday reported. 

An NYPD spokesperson declined to confirm whether the teens reside in Nassau County or New York City as they are minors. Both were apprehended in the department’s 19th Precinct, which covers the Upper East Side.