According to the Lynbrook Police Department, they received a call from a mother at 8:15 p.m. on Feb. 16 searching for her child that seemed to be trapped and hurt at an unknown location.
The police department also had received an anonymous call at 5:15 p.m. from the friend of a teenager that seemed to be in danger. After tracking down the name of the caller’s friend and his place of residence, the child’s mother told the Lynbrook police that her son must be OK and was out with friends.
At 8:15 p.m., after receiving a video of a social media post showing her son trapped inside a maintenance shaft in the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, she called the Lynbrook police back to confirm the danger her son was facing in real-time.
The 16-year old Lynbrook resident was said to have been going around exploring buildings with friends — “Urban Exploring,” which the social media trend is known as — when he fell at least 50 feet down the ladder within the bridge used to get to the top, as discussed by Chief of Police Brian Paladino at the Lynbrook village board meeting on Feb. 17.
The Lynbrook Police Department was “extremely dedicated” in locating the trapped teen, arriving on the scene very soon after the call from the injured child’s mother, Paladino said.
While the New York City Police Department spent hours searching each structural tower that could have trapped the fallen teen, the Lynbrook department found another mode of location tracking.
“We tracked down the person who sent the video, and they went with us to point out the scene, as the NYPD searched to no avail,” Paladino said. “It was a team effort and it worked out really well.”
The city's fire department used harnesses, ropes and a pulley system to raise the boy out of the shaft, after which he was stabilized by emergency medical service personnel, and then taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell.
Paladino said the child retained many injuries, but was in stable condition when the department left the hospital later that night.
“Hopefully he will make a full recovery,” Paladino said.
Lynbrook Mayor Alan Beach congratulated the village police at the meeting for their strong commitment to the community, and overall achievement.
“Hats off to the Lynbrook Police Department,” Beach said. “They really saved someone’s life last night.”
