Tree breaks picture-taker’s fall from cliffs

Courageous rescue workers needed an hour to find the victim, who’d become tanged in a tree, and strap him to a back board before lifting him to safety — no simple task. The North Bergen man apparently was with two friends when he hopped a 3-foot-high iron fence to get a better view, then lost his balance.

People from the area know that tight bend on Boulevard East at 75th Street. A couple of years back, speed bumps were put in. It’s barely 150 feet south of “suicide bridge,” directly across from the entrance to Palisades General Hospital below.

The stone fence that hugs the curb is difficult to clear because of the jagged rocks on top. But the iron fence is low enough for someone to swing one leg over, then another. A rock juts out in a clearing a few feet away. It can barely fit two people, much less one.

Below the trees that remain are the beginnings of what developers say will be a mall that will include a Walgreens and a Starbucks.

Once North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue workers got him out, shortly after 1 a.m.,  helicopter at Palisades General took him to Hackensack.

They reportedly needed a thermal-imaging camera first to find him, then deployed a string of firefighters who used ropes to pull him back up the cliff.

 

Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.