After some members of the “Outlaw Instagrammers”—the group of teens and young adults who climb to some of the highest points in New York City to take breathtaking photos—were arrested for climbing 432 Park Avenue, one of them is speaking out about the risky and illegal hobby.
For months, they’ve been climbing up to parts of the city at times of day and night rarely seen by the people who live in it. Their thousands of followers have been watching every potentially-dangerous move in awe.
Some of the teens were arrested after scaling 432 Park Ave, and a 17-year-old “urban historian” known as demidism was charged with criminal trespassing and reckless endangerment. Another teen, who says he was with demidism and goes by night.shift, has video of the climb and has spoken about the incident.
What started out as a joke turned into planning and eventually, the two made the climb up more than 90 sets of stairs and atop of a crane. And it all went according to plan, at least until the police showed up and arrested him.
The feeling there was amazing. I’ve never been that high up; it was so quiet and didn’t have that common ‘New York city smell’ in the air. The pictures we took don’t justify the feeling you get from being up there.
We eventually left by running down the 90+ sets of stairs just before work hours started, and at that point I though we were free. Although me and Demid where taken from our homes by police and arrested, it was all worth it—the view for that place costs millions of dollars and we got it for free (well besides any charges being pressed). It was a once in a life time opportunity.
He also said that his “mom’s pretty mad at me,” which may be an understatement.
For now, demidism is staying fairly quiet, but that’s mainly because the police confiscated his phone as evidence.
H/T Business Insider | Photo via Iconosquare
