UPDATE: An NYPD spokesman later told West Side Rag that the dead man was found with a bag of rocks tied in front of his waist. Separately, the Daily News has reported the man had a bag over his head and that the NYPD considers the death suspicious.
By Daniel Katzive
Police recovered the body of a deceased man from the waters of the Hudson River at the shuttered Boat Basin marina on Monday morning.
Firefighters rushed to the marina in response to a 7:22 a.m. 911 call of a person in the water. With the person found to be deceased, the FDNY gave way to the NYPD to recover the body, which was pinned against the north side of the marina’s A-dock.
Harbor Patrol officers maneuvered the deceased onto a 45’ police boat and brought the body into the marina where it was unloaded onto one of the floating docks and placed in a body bag by Emergency Service Unit officers.
An NYPD spokesman confirmed that the unidentified adult was a male and was handed over to the city medical examiner who will determine the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing.
While the NYPD does not provide exact numbers on how often bodies are found in the Hudson River, regular morning joggers and dog walkers in Riverside Park and former Boat Basin residents can confirm that the phenomenon is sadly not uncommon. The Boat Basin in particular, with its network of docks and piers extending into the water, can sometimes trap what the police refer to as “floaters.”
An academic study published in the Journal of Forensic Science in 2002 reviewed case records for all deceased people recovered in New York City waterways between 1997 and 2000. The study found that there were 123 deaths over that period, with 52 ruled suicides, 50 undetermined, 16 accidents and five homicides. Ethanol (i.e., alcohol) or illicit drugs were found in 53% of the accidents, 41% of the suicides, and 33% of the undetermined group.
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The article says the police noted that the person was an adult male. So why is this article confusingly written to avoid a mentioning that fact: “deceased person”, “them” etc.
You’re right. Fixed.
Rest in peace, whoever you are.
988 for Lifeline as well.
People in crisis can also call 988.
A box of rocks around his waist and a bag over his head? Seems very suspicious. I hope they’re able to determine what happened. RIP.
He was weighted down with stones.
This was a murder. The body had its hands bound, head wrapped in a separate plastic bag from that which encased the body, and the cops found stones weighting the corpse down. OCME was on scene, as were the precinct detectives
Tragic and scary