French financier jumps to death from NYC balcony during apartment showing: sources
A French financier jumped to his death from a luxury Manhattan high-rise near the United Nations Thursday while taking a tour of a unit with a real estate agent, police sources said.
The 43-year-old man, identified as Charles-Henry Kurzen, plummeted from a 32th-floor balcony at 100 United Nations Plaza in the Turtle Bay neighborhood around 1:15 p.m. and landed on a third-floor patio, a police spokesman said.
The French businessman, who was living in Brooklyn, was touring the apartment when he asked the agent to show him to the balcony and “then suddenly jumped off” to his death, the sources said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kurzen, a financial banker and graduate from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP) Business School, was a partner at Saltbox Partners LLC and had years of experience in the French and New York financial industry, according to the company’s website.
He had previously worked as an analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Lazard Freres & Co. in Paris, the site states.
A coworker declined to comment when reached, but described him as a dear friend.
He was quoted in a 2004 New Yorker article as an attendee of “French Tuesdays” — a group of weekly parties hosted for French ex-patriots in New York City.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling.
If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
