"I wanted to try urban exploration for the first time and shoot some nice pictures, but it didn't end well because we had to sprint a mile to escape a cop." That's the description of an urban exploration video uploaded to YouTube last month—a 9-minute clip that features a group of daring teens sneaking onto the unfinished Tappan Zee Bridge.
The urbex vlog, set to a synth-heavy remix of "Seven Nation Army," three teenagers are seen meeting up at a Yonkers diner before making their way to the base of the bridge in the early morning hours of July 12th. A quick slip through an open fence, a dash down some Metro North train tracks, and the trio makes it onto the $3.9 billion structure.
But all is not well. "I'm not liking how open this is," one member of the group remarks as they walk past construction equipment on the empty bridge's span. Shortly after, the three break out into a sprint as they're chased by bridge security and a police officer.
"Go fast, we have to go fast!" the videographer says as the group makes their escape.
The clip ends with the teens returning to their car, elated to have escaped, but sadly their own footage has done them in. NJ.com reports that New York state police viewed the exploration video on August 5th and arrested the two 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old three days layer. All three have been charged with third-degree criminal trespass, but law enforcement has not released their names due to their ages.
"They basically videotaped themselves committing a crime," Michael Cassella, a New York State Trooper spokesman, told the Journal News. According to CBS, the three urbexers were able to evade surveillance cameras on the new Tappan Zee; it was the Youtube upload that did them in.
Watch the video of the Tappan Zee infiltration below. It's a solid (if a bit egocentric) document of rookie recreational trespass. Don't get too mad at the kids, either—nothing got vandalized and nobody got hurt. Speaking from personal experience, though, they might want to leave local jurisdiction before they publish any more illegal urbex evidence.
