A 62-year-old man died Thursday afternoon after jumping from 10 Gracie Square, a 15-story co-op building in Yorkville, with police locating him on a scaffolding structure outside the building around 2:30 p.m. EMS pronounced him dead at the scene. Sources say he appeared to have jumped off the building, and an open window was spotted on the 14th floor.
The death was first reported by the New York Post, whose sources also noted an open window on the 13th floor, according to a photo caption cited in that report. The scaffolding where the man was found is the kind of structure regularly required outside older high-rises under the city's Facade Inspection Safety Program, according to the NYC Department of Buildings. Formerly known as Local Law 11, the program requires buildings taller than six stories to undergo exterior wall inspections every five years, and its current cycle, which began in February 2025, mandates hands-on facade evaluations by property owners, per the same agency.
A Building With a Storied — and Shadowed — Past
10 Gracie Square sits steps from Gracie Mansion, facing the East River in one of Manhattan's most exclusive enclaves. Built in 1931, the co-op has counted Madame Chiang Kai-shek, philanthropist Brooke Astor, and businessman Steve Ross among its past tenants, the station's report notes. Novelist Tom Wolfe once called it one of only 42 “good buildings” in the city, according to the same account.
The building's reputation for luxury has long coexisted with a darker history. On July 22, 1988, 23-year-old Princeton graduate Carter Cooper — the son of socialite Gloria Vanderbilt — plunged to his death from the 14th-floor penthouse terrace of 10 Gracie Square while his mother watched and tried to talk him back from the ledge, according to Fox News. Cooper was the older brother of CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and had recently moved back to New York City at the time of his death.
A Second Tragedy Nearly Three Decades Later
Nearly 29 years later, on April 30, 2017, 83-year-old oral historian and author Jean Stein died by suicide after jumping from her 15th-floor penthouse window at 10 Gracie Square, landing on an eighth-floor terrace balcony, as reported by Patch. Stein, a former editor of The Paris Review, was the author of bestselling biographies including “Edie: American Girl.” Following her death, luxury real estate broker Dolly Lenz told Fox News that 10 Gracie Square was the only luxury building she knew of with two such high-profile suicides, saying it created “a cloud on the building.”
Despite that history, the address has continued to draw intense interest from prospective buyers. In late 2017, former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama toured duplex units at 10 Gracie Square, generating widespread real estate rumors, though reports later confirmed the couple did not submit a formal purchase application, according to 6sqft. The building's co-op board is known for rigorous vetting of prospective celebrity and political buyers.
Architecture Built for Privacy and Prestige
Co-designed by architects Rosario Candela and William Lawrence Bottomley, 10 Gracie Square features a vaulted through-block driveway connecting East 83rd and East 84th Streets that gives residents private, gated vehicle access, per Compass. When the building went up along the East River, it originally included a private boat landing for residents arriving by yacht or motorboat, an amenity later altered when the city built the FDR Drive, according to the Roosevelt Island Historical Society.
Cooperative apartments at 10 Gracie Square routinely sell between $8 million and $10 million, featuring expansive multi-room duplex layouts, wood-burning fireplaces, and an indoor squash and basketball court, according to Realtor.com. The building contains 42 residential units with full-service white-glove staffing, per the same listing data.
A Citywide Pattern Behind the Tragedy
Thursday's death adds to a broader municipal picture. Jumping from high places accounted for approximately 24% of all suicides in New York City in 2022, according to New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene data reported by Hoodline. City agencies have expanded crisis outreach and structural safety retrofits at high-altitude locations in response to that trend.
As of Thursday, the identity of the 62-year-old man had not been officially released pending family notification, and it remains unknown whether he was a resident of 10 Gracie Square or a visitor, or whether the jump originated from a private apartment or a common area of the building. Individuals in New York City experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts can access free, confidential support 24/7 by calling or texting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or by calling NYC Well at 1-888-NYC-WELL.
