Man scales New York Times building, holds knife up to throat

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A 31-year-old man scaled the New York Times building and held a knife up to his throat Tuesday night before he was arrested and hospitalized, police sources said.

Darrow Erikksan, who was described by sources as emotionally disturbed, climbed 50 feet up the building as a crowd of onlookers gathered across Eighth Avenue.

He then pulled out a small knife and held it at his neck, but was not injured, according to police sources.

Firefighters and Port Authority police officers helped bring Erikksan down to safety.

He was put in an ambulance and taken to an area hospital for a medical evaluation.

Erikksan was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and trespassing, police sources said.

Just one week ago, Erikksan was issued a bench warrant after failing to show up to court for a hearing on his alleged assault on a cop, sources said.

He was hit with the charge for allegedly injuring a cop with a two-by-four riddled with nails on Aug. 18. In that case, he was taken into custody, hospitalized for emotional evaluation and released on his own recognizance at his arraignment, according to sources.

The 31-year-old is not the first person to scale the 721-foot Times building — 12th on the list of the city's tallest skyscrapers.

The 52-story office building features evenly spaced horizontal ceramic rods on the its exterior that make it ideal for urban climbers.

Shortly after construction was completed in 2008, three men scaled the home of the Gray Lady in separate instances. Two of the men used the stunt to protest different causes.

Despite efforts to deter more thrill-seeking climbers, more people continued to scale the building through the years including as recently as this May.

A self-proclaimed "Pro-Life Spider-Man" scaled the Times Tower on May 5 and hung two banners decrying abortion.