New York Local News

NEW YORK (CBS) ― As if once wasn't enough, a second man defied the odds and scaled the 52-story New York Times Building in Times Square on Thursday evening.

Just a few hours after daredevil Alain Robert – affectionately known as "The French Spiderman" -- climbed to the top, a local man had New York City residents' hearts in their throats as he spent 40 minutes making his way up the façade.

The second man and the second climb began as our CBS 2 HD crew was at the building investigating the first. Someone on the street then yelled out, "It's happening again."

And it was. CBS 2 HD cameras captured images of the man identified by his friends as 32-year-old Rey Clarke of Brooklyn when he was still close to the ground, seconds after he darted up a scaffold. He climbed fast, inside the lattice work, and then emerged on the outside, up and up until he appeared to be a tiny dot.

"That is unbelievable," witness Alba Schwarz said. "It's crazy."

Added witness Sean Hagan: "It's the worst feeling. You're watching someone up there and you don't know what's going to happen."

Onlookers' necks craned, hearts raced and everyone held their breath. On the ground, right under Clarke, our CBS 2 HD 6 p.m. live report was underway. The NYPD moved us out of the way so an inflatable mat could be placed right where we had been standing.

Clarke's climb featured moments of trepidation as he stopped on several occasions and leaned against windows, likely due to exhaustion. Cheers erupted from the crowd after Clarke completed his climb and cops pulled him to safety. The second such stunt of the day ended with Clarke back on the ground, restrained by police. He was smiling and trying to make sure people read his t-shirt, which said "Malaria No More."

"I watched him from the beginning, took pictures, terrified," friend Monica Escobar told CBS 2 HD outside Bellevue Hospital, where Clarke was taken for observation.

"I hope (the climb) wasn't all for naught," Escobar said. "I hope he can get the awareness and the attention and he was looking for."

Clarke's Facebook page says he enjoys climbing and lists "xtreme living" among his interests. The page identifies him as an information technology support manager for a Manhattan advertising agency, and it says he is pursuing an undergraduate degree in physics. He did not immediately return an online message.

Clarke's friend Nick Ruzhniko explained why he made the dangerous climb.

"By the end of the day 3,000 children are going to be killed because of this disease and that was his modus operandi for the climb and I think what he did was very selfless," Ruzhniko said.

Many others disagreed, including the NYPD and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said both tower climbers put lives in jeopardy. They said the incidents were really nothing more than a scare, a stunt and a waste of resources,

"I'm sure there will be a lot of copycatters," witness Sally Kwaja said. "They will want to do the same thing,"

Added another witness, "It's New York. Everybody likes a little 15 minutes of fame."

Shortly after noon, Robert scaled building without a rope or anything securing him except for his own arms and legs. CBS 2 HD's Sean Hennesey was on-hand as the world-renowned climber, worked his way up the walls of the tower at 620 8th Ave. at 41st Street without any assistance.

"He didn't have a belt or anything! He just kept going up and up and I thought, oh my goodness," said witness Sarah Tucker.

 Did you take a picture of the French Spiderman? Send us your photos!

That was the thought of those inside offices as they saw Robert, 46, scale past their floors all the way to the top. From the ground, all eyes aimed at the skies.

"He just kept on walking up like that way almost up to the end. Walking up like he was spiderman," said Sarita Garcia.

Along the way, spidey left a message he wanted the world to see in the form of a banner that read, "Global Warming Kills More People Than 9/11 Every Week."

"He's trying to make sure that people get the message that we need to take action calling attention to himself for the cause," said Robert's manager, Julia Cohen.

As Robert headed to the top, rescuers were called in to help but the building itself got in the way. Around 12:20 p.m. the man was taken in by authorities on a steel beam atop the building. When he arrived on the beam, he stood up and waved his arms in the air victoriously.

Robert used the building's lattice liike a ladder all the way to the top where police were waiting with harnesses and handcuffs.

"Once he got to the top, they just grabbed him and he walked in. He wasn't resisting or anything," said witness Artie Berkey.

This isn't the first time Robert has caught the attention of New Yorkers. In 1994, he climbed the Calico building, then five years later, it was the Sears tower. Last year in London, it was an office tower. Just this April, he climbed another building in Hong Kong. Now, the New York Times building has it's own place in Robert's aerial acrobatics and New Yorkers have something else to shake their heads about.

According to Robert's Web site, he's scaled over 70 skyscrapers in eight years and says his greatest feat was "the ascent of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi with over 100,000 spectators!"

His Web site also says he climbs even though he suffers from vertigo and is "60 percent disabled" from previous accidents. It says he has been jailed many times but it does not matter because he "would rather stay in a prison than in a hospital."

One city councilman is hoping that Robert gets to know what the inside of a New York City jail looks like.

"Regardless of the cause, in this day and age the police department has more important things to worry about then ridiculous stunts like this that endanger the police and public," said Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. "If he wants to climb something, he can climb the walls inside his jail cell at Rikers."

The New York Times building opened last year and is surrounding by an impressive steel and glass shutter-like frame.

For more information on the architecture of the building, click here.

Stay tuned to WCBSTV.COM for some videos of the daredevil's previous feats.

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