Pedestrian walkways on the Victory Bridge have been blocked off as officials grapple with ways to prevent people from jumping off the span that has become a symbol of tragedy.
The state Department of Transportation (DOT) ordered that pedestrian access to the bridge be closed after police prevented another suicide attempt on Oct. 1, according to the Sayreville Police Department.
The state-built span that connects Sayreville and Perth Amboy has earned the macabre moniker “suicide bridge” among locals. Perth Amboy officials have been requesting that the DOT put up barriers to prevent people from jumping from the bridge for six years, according to Mayor Wilda Diaz.
“I’m hoping that DOT listens to our plea,” she said. “They can’t turn a blind eye. … They’re putting a big burden on all of us by not acting.
“Since 2008, there have been 22 deaths,” she said. “And we’ve had 85 attempts.”
According to Steve Schapiro, spokesman for the DOT, no specific proposals have been considered for the Victory Bridge, but newly named Commissioner Jamie Fox met with Diaz and state Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) on Sept. 29 to open a dialogue about potential solutions.
“We’re going to see what can be done, but it’s a little bit early at this point to talk about what’s going to be there,” he said. Since Fox’s visit, two more teenagers have attempted suicide from the bridge. A 19-year-old male jumped on Sept. 29, but survived and was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick to receive treatment for his injuries, according to police.
On Oct. 1, first responders stopped a 16- year-old girl from jumping.
Middlesex County Sheriff’s Officer Todd Grossman was off duty when he helped responders pull the girl to safety. Grossman saw her by chance when driving by on his way home from work.
“I saw a couple of cars pulled over and I thought it was an accident,” Grossman, a Monroe resident, said. “But then, I happened to see [an officer] holding the girl … who was, I guess, looking to jump.”
Grossman got out of his car and crossed over the median to try to help the other officer restrain the girl, he said.
“I grabbed her right side and held onto her,” he said. “She was struggling and trying to push over [the rail].”
While Grossman and the other officer were holding onto her, police units from Perth Amboy and Sayreville arrived, he said. They helped tie a rope around the girl and pulled her back onto the bridge, where Grossman, who is an EMT, performed first aid.
The girl complained of some back pain, but otherwise appeared to have no injuries, according to Grossman.
She was taken to Raritan Bay Medical Center following the incident.
Middlesex County Sheriff Mildred S. Scott praised Grossman’s life-saving actions.
“I am very proud of him as a sheriff’s officer, as I am of all of the sheriff’s officers,” Scott said. “He was off duty at the time and saw a girl in distress, and he did what he is trained to do. I am happy and proud.”
Suicide attempts on the Victory Bridge have been a persistent issue in recent years, and hundreds of residents joined the annual suicide-awareness march on the bridge last week to demand action in the wake of the death of 16-year-old Perth Amboy resident Giancarlos Taveras.
According to Diaz, the bridge is the DOT’s responsibility, and the department’s help is required to prevent more deaths.
“The burden should be on the state of New Jersey. They designed [the bridge], they built it, and they should be responsible for it.”
Sayreville Mayor Kennedy O’Brien said he met with Diaz on Sept. 29 to discuss potential courses of action the towns could take to reduce suicide attempts on the bridge.
“We are each asking our police chiefs to come together [to find] a solution,” O’Brien said. “Hopefully we will come up with a solution that can begin a preventative process.”
Diaz said she continues to advocate for the installation of barriers or some kind of fencing on the bridge. O’Brien said the mayors want the DOT to finance any such initiatives.
“We’re looking for them to pay for it,” O’Brien said. “At the end of the day, it is the police officer who risks his life trying to save someone from jumping.”