Suicide at the Empire State Building

A man jumped to his death Friday out the window of a 69th-floor law office in the Empire State Building.

Police responded to the New York City landmark shortly before 3 p.m. after a 911 caller reported seeing a severed leg _ covered in a gray sock _ on the street below. The rest of the body was recovered from a setback on the 30th floor.

The tragedy in the 102-story building closed portions of the busy Midtown Manhattan street while the investigation continued.

Police identified the man as Moshe Kanovsky, a lawyer in his 30s.

More than 30 people have committed suicide at the Empire State Building since it opened in 1931, including a 21-year-old man in February 2006. The skyscraper reaches 1,454 feet to the top of its lightning rod.

This story seems to be generating a great deal of interest not only in the New York City area but across the nation. I guess the iconic status of the building has something to do with all the attention this is getting. I suppose everyone has seen the photograph of the young woman who jumped and landed on a parked automobile.

Of course there is the "why did he do it" question hovering over the whole affair. The fact that he was meeting with a client at the time adds to the mystery. Did someone tell him something so terrible of frightening that death seemed the only way out? Did he know something that he shouldn't have? Was he told that he either did it himself or his family would be targeted? Or was he just mentally ill?

The last time I was there I noticed that the windows could be opened and wondered if no one had ever jumped out of one.