A daredevil dressed in black early this morning attempted a night climb of the New York Times building – almost five weeks after two daytime climbers who reached the top of the building last month.
David Malone, 29, of Hartford, Conn., began his bizarre, dangerous stunt at 1:20 a.m. and was past the 11th floor of the 52-story building by 2:35 a.m.
With hundreds of people cheering him from the street, he unfurled a red banner with white patches which covered the “T” of the New York Times sign, which he told The Post called attention to Al Qaeda’s “crusader baiting.”
It featured a reference to President Bush and Osama Bin Laden, and accused Bush of playing into the Bin Laden’s plan to engage the U.S. in a long, drawn-out confrontation.
Police closed off the streets below the building and set up an inflatable cushion near the main entrace of the building.
After hanging the banner, Malone descended to a lower floor and spent hours hanging out, making cell phone calls and talking to police before he was arrested about 5:30 a.m., police said. He was then taken to Bellevue Hospital Center for evaluation.
He was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. He was awaiting arraignment, said Police Department spokesman Paul Browne.
“The department’s view is these antics put the public at grave risk, not to mention the potential for injury or death for the climber. The police department treats it seriously,” Browne said.
In a phone call to The Post early this morning, Malone said he wasn’t scared although he was “a little nervous at first. But I’m perfectly comfortable now. I’m in good condition.
His only climbing experience came from climbing trees as a kid.
He also said he’s spent years researching Al Qaeda, and recently wrote a book called, “Bin Laden’s Plan.”
The book argues that Sept. 11 was part of a plot by al-Qaida to provoke the U.S. into invading Iraq, according to a summary on the Amazon.com bookseller site.
On June 5, two stuntmen with nothing more than their bare hands and climbing shoes both climbed the 52-story tower.
“French Spider-Man,” Alain Robert was the first. He managed to climb the 784 foot building in under an hour. Renaldo Clarke, a Brooklyn man who had plans for a similar ascent, watched Robert on TV and was overcome with envy about being upstaged.
He quickly rushed from his Sunset Park home to Times Square.
Despite looking out of shape and pausing several times, to catch his breath, he managed to finish his climb in about the same time.
Additional reporting by Peter Gilmore and Larry Celona