A New York City women went out on a 17th floor balcony for a cigarette when the railings gave way, causing her to fall to her death, according to multiple reports.
Jennifer Rosoff, 35, was with a male friend smoking a cigarette on "the terrace of her 57th Street high rise apartment near First Avenue at around 12:30 a.m. when police sources said she sat on the railing," according to The New York Post.
The railings reportedly couldn't support her weight and Rosoff fell 17 stories before she landed on construction scaffolding.
"I heard the thud last night. It was as loud as a car crash. It sounded like a 200 lb punch," Sara Shubert, an eight-year resident of the luxury building, told the NY Post.
Officials pronounced Rosoff dead on the scene.
"There was a man who was hysterical and crying by the elevators," a neighbor who lives on the 14th Floor told the NY Post. "He told me that he and Jennifer were on their first date. They has just gotten back and she was showing him her apartment...Then he said they stepped out onto the balcony and had a drink. She was leaning on the balcony then the railing gave way and just snapped. It's really sad."
According to the NY Post, the Department of Buildings will launch an official investigation to find out what caused the structure to give out. The incident is still under investigation, according to police officials.
Residents of the apartment told the NY Post a luxury real estate company, Stonehenge, is currently making renovations to the old building.
"There have been a lot of improvements to the building but they [Stonehenge] inherited a very old building. Old pipes and things," Shubert said. "They are the type of people who are pretty meticulous. So for the railing to just break is very surprising."
Click here to watch the video of police investigating the scene.
