Thrill seekers used an abandoned and graffiti-covered billion-dollar skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles as a parachuting launch pad, wild video shows.
One man lept off the unfinished roof of the Oceanwide Plaza, the empty complex that has recently become a canvas for graffiti taggers.
He plunged just a few feet off the 50-floor building before opening the parachute and sailing to the busy street below.
A second person, who was seen kneeling at the top of the building when their accomplice first jumped, followed suit and parachuted off the ledge.
The video was shared on social media last month, but gained traction this week — chiefly the attention of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
The fed-up politician called on the developers to reimburse the city for every dime it has spent providing extra police patrols on the property.
In the wake of the parachuting incident, the LAPD will surround the property until the developers take action to secure it.
Two parachuters launched from the 50th floor of the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza building in downtown Los Angeles.
“We don’t have any choice but to do that because people being in that building is extremely dangerous,” Bass told reporters.
“I hate the fact that we are using city and other police resources in that manner, but we do not want to see a tragedy take place, and I guarantee you that a tragedy will take place there.”
The parachuters are just a few of the dozens of trespassers who have transformed the Oceanwide Plaza property into their playground.
A vertigo-inducing video shared last week showed a daredevil braving a rainstorm at night to walk along the ledge of the 50th floor of the abandoned property overlooking the Crypto.com arena, home to the LA Lakers, Clippers and Kings.
Taggers have covered at least 27 balconies across the three buildings, which had been conceived as a $1 billion mixed-use luxury apartment and commercial hub, but construction on the project came to a halt in 2019, when the developers ran out of money.
The skyscrapers had sat unfinished for the past five years, before graffiti taggers took an interest in them.
The buildings, which have sat empty for five years, have become a canvas for graffiti taggers. Getty Images
At least a half-dozen people have been arrested since last week for trespassing.
A city council resolution gives Beijing-based developers Oceanwide Holdings until Saturday to start cleaning the property.
If the deadline is not met, the city will take the matter into its own hands and send the developers the bill.
Source link: https://nypost.com/2024/02/13/news/parachuters-leap-from-roof-of-abandoned-los-angeles-skyscraper/