The 26-year-old woman who plunged to her death from a fancy rooftop bar in Manhattan was an aspiring model who was “sweet and loving,” her family said Thursday evening.
Elizabeth Gaglewski, of Queens, plummeted from the ledge of Bar 54 at the Hyatt Centric Times Square New York Wednesday afternoon and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities.
“She was just a good person, a sweet and loving, caring kid,” her uncle Tony Smith told The Post from inside their home.
“She was a good, loving, kind girl,” added her aunt Janet, who didn’t give her last name.
Investigators on Thursday were still trying to determine if Gaglewski jumped intentionally or fell by accident.
The family was coping with their loss a day after the tragic incident where Gaglewski fell from the 54th floor and landed on a 27th-floor balcony, cops have said.
Her uncle also said they were not sure whether the fall was intentional or not and declined to say if she was struggling with depression or mental health.
“We are still waiting to get all the information from cops,” Smith said.
Police have said they are reviewing surveillance footage of the incident.
Staff attempted to save her life, but she was already off the side before they could reach her, sources said.
“They saw it. They tried to help her but they couldn’t,” a worker who wasn’t there but had been briefed on the incident told The Post earlier Thursday.
“The whole staff is traumatized right now.”
Witnesses told cops after the incident the woman was “seen jumping” from the ledge.
Sources said Gaglewski was not staying at the hotel, and that she had ordered a drink before apparently climbing over the ledge.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988, text HOME to 741741 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
Additional reporting by Joe Marino and Larry Celona
Three suspects linked to the shooting death of a Phoenix mother who was inside a car with her children have been arrested, authorities said Monday.
The shooting happened near an Arco gas station at 27th Avenue and McDowell Road in Phoenix early Monday, FOX10 Phoenix reported.
The mother was killed while in the passenger seat and shrapnel hit one of the children, who was expected to be OK, police said. Five children and two adults survived the shooting.
The victim was identified as 35-year-old Yenni Dominguez Leyva.
“Somebody minding their own business, doing what they’re supposed to be doing, gunned down in the midst of living everyday life, is just the extra amount of tragedy that we see,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Phil Krynsky said.
Californians looking to honor the Earth even after death will soon be able to choose to have their remains composted in the Golden State.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Sunday that will allow human compost burials, or natural organic reduction (NOR), in the state beginning in 2027.
Assembly Bill 351, introduced by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, frames the organic decomposition of human remains into soil as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burial methods.
“With climate change and sea-level rise as very real threats to our environment,” Garcia said in a statement in June, “[NOR] is an alternative method of final disposition that won’t contribute emissions into our atmosphere.”
NOR involves placing the deceased body in an 8-foot steel box surrounded by biodegradable materials like wood chips. The box is aerated to allow microbes and bacteria to grow. The remains are then decomposed into soil in about 30 to 60 days.
Human-composted soil will be returned to the deceased’s family, or otherwise donated to conservation land.
NOR is less energy-intensive than cremation, which burns fossil fuels and emits carbon monoxide. According to National Geographic, cremations in the US emit about 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Composting is also a more economical alternative to traditional burial services. A 2021 study by the National Funeral Directors Association reported that the average funeral with a viewing and burial cost $7,848. According to US Funerals Online, NOR is cheaper, at between $4,000 and $5,500.
California is the fifth state to legalize human composting; the practice is already legal in Washington, Colorado, Vermont and Oregon. At the forefront of the NOR movement is Katrina Spade, founder of Recompose, a Washington-based funeral home specializing in human composting.
“It’s not easy to think about after-death choices,” Spade said in a statement.
“Natural organic reduction is safe, sustainable, and informed by nature. This process would provide Californians an option that offers significant savings in carbon emissions and land usage over conventional burial or cremation.”
Micah Truman, CEO of Return Home, another NOR funeral home in Washington, agreed with Spade’s assessment.
“With cremation, instead of sitting with our person and saying goodbye, we are very divorced from the process,” he told the Guardian. Demand for NOR is increasing, he added, with families from 12 other states where the practice is not legal traveling for Return Home’s “gentle, inclusive, and transparent death care.”
When the soil process is completed, Truman explained, “the rules are identical to that of cremated remains.” Some families plant trees or flowers, or scatter the soil in the ocean, while one farmer specifically requested to be replanted on his beloved land.
Still, not everyone is pleased that human composting is becoming more popular. The California Catholic Conference submitted a letter in June opposing AB 351, saying it “reduces the human body to simply a disposable commodity.”
Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, noted that the NOR process stems from the methods originally developed for livestock.
“These methods of disposal were used to lessen the possibility of disease being transmitted by the dead carcass,” she said. “Using these same methods for the ‘transformation’ of human remains can create an unfortunate spiritual, emotional and psychological distancing from the deceased.”
Garcia, however, remains undeterred and is interested in opting for NOR when she passes away herself.
“I look forward to continuing my legacy to fight for clean air by using my reduced remains to plant a tree,” she said.
After Newsom’s signature approved the practice in California, NOR is also awaiting legalization in New York. Spearheaded by Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Westchester), Assembly Bill A382 is pending review by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
New Boston, Texas — A state police investigator testified Tuesday that a woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and removing her unborn child conducted intensive research on how to fake a pregnancy convincingly.
Special Agent Dustin Estes of the Texas Department of Public Safety testified that Parker viewed numerous YouTube videos on delivering and caring for babies.
On the day of the killing, she watched a video on the physical exam of an infant delivered pre-term at 35 weeks, he said. Simmons-Hancock had a 35-week pregnancy when she was killed.
Parker also ran numerous Google searches about pregnancy, Estes said.
“She watched all these videos, clicked on all these links, and they were all at 35 weeks,” prosecutor Kelley Crisp said.
“My opinion is Taylor Parker faked her pregnancy. … She planned and carried out the murder of Reagan,” Estes said.
Parker’s attorney, Jeff Harrelson, challenged that opinion, telling Estes, “You can see somebody looked them up, but you don’t know why. You can have a theory.”
Parker, 29, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and kidnapping in the October 2020 deaths of Simmons-Hancock, 21, and the daughter who died after being cut from her mother’s womb. Authorities say Simmons-Hancock was stabbed and cut more than 100 times and had her skull crushed with a hammer in her New Boston, Texas, home before a scalpel was used to remove her unborn baby. She is also charged with non-capital murder in connection with the baby’s death.
In her opening statement Monday, Crisp told the Bowie County jury that Parker acted not because she wanted a baby but to keep from losing her boyfriend. Crisp said Parker disguised herself to make her look pregnant for nearly 10 months, faked ultrasounds, had a gender-reveal party and posted about her fake pregnancy on social media while searching for a possible victim, Crisp said.
Royal fans mourned Queen Elizabeth’s death Thursday as they crowded outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to pay their respects to the long-serving monarch.
“She meant everything to me,” Londoner John Loughrey, 67, told The Post moments after the announcement was posted at the palace gates.
“We’ll never have one like her,” he said. “To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement. I’m so shocked — I can’t believe this,” he said.
Well-wishers had already ignored heavy rain to flock to the 96-year-old’s residences to drop off bouquets of flowers and tributes as soon as Buckingham Palace announced a serious deterioration in her health.
Hundreds were outside the palace at 6:30 p.m. London time when two royal aides fixed a formal statement to the railings announcing that “the Queen died peacefully at Balmoral.”
Just moments earlier, a stunning double rainbow shone over the palace gates — soon replaced by tears among mourners leaving bouquets.
Spanish tourist Carla Fernandez, 32, headed to the palace on her very first day in London.
“We are not big fans of monarchy — but the queen is more than that,” she said.
Raja Patel, from Essex, said he was “scared this would happen soon” — but it still left him “absolutely devastated.”
He said there were “not enough flowers in the world for her. She was full of class.”
Queen Elizabeth, who was the UK’s longest serving monarch after assuming the throne in 1952, had called Buckingham Palace home for most of her record-breaking reign.
In her final years, the Queen had been living at Windsor Castle — her weekend home just outside London — where she had spent her last days with her late husband Prince Philip before he died in April 2021.
Her death Thursday came just two days after she was seen smiling broadly while confirming the appointment of new Prime Minister Liz Truss at Balmoral, the late queen’s Scottish residence..
However, the images sparked health concerns over deep blue bruising on her hand — and earlier Thursday the palace revealed that her doctors were “concerned for Her Majesty’s health.”
The 96-year-old monarch had cut back her public appearances in the months before her death because of ongoing mobility issues.
A mother whose Army vet son was stabbed to death in Harlem in 2018 ripped Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in an open letter over his decision to offer plea deals to two defendants in the case.
Madeline Brame, who sent the letter to Bragg and Gov. Kathy Hochul, claims the DA didn’t communicate with her before offering the deals, which let one of the defendants off on time served.
“You violated my rights as a crime victim to be fully informed, and to be heard,” Brame wrote in the letter sent Thursday.
“Why would you dismiss murder charges against half of the participants, when the murder and their roles were caught on video?”
Brame’s son Hason Correa, a then-35-year-old married dad of three, was allegedly beaten and stabbed to death in October 2018 by a group of assailants — Travis Stewart, Mary Saunders and her two brothers, James and Chris Saunders.
However, during a March court hearing, Bragg’s prosecutors said they didn’t think they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mary had intended to kill Correa, or that she knew her brother had a knife.
As part of her plea agreement, Mary pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of felony assault and was allowed to go free on time served after she spent a year in jail as the case played out in court.
Stewart was permitted to plead guilty to attempted gang assault, and is slated to be sentenced to seven years behind bars on June 29 under a deal with Bragg’s office.
Brame slammed Bragg’s team, saying prosecutors didn’t consult with her before downgrading the charges. She also lamented that she couldn’t be present for Mary’s plea deal hearing to deliver a victim impact statement because it was scheduled on the day of her brother’s funeral.
“You and your office chose to not meaningfully consult our family that you were going to dismiss the murder charges against two of the people… until after you agreed to that deal with the attorneys representing the defendants,” Brame wrote in the missive.
“Why did you not want the Judge to hear our voice? Why did you not want the public to hear what our family thought about the dismissal of murder charges against two individuals who, the prior administration and homicide prosecutors said, were clearly responsible?”
While the grieving mom didn’t get the opportunity to speak during the plea deal hearing where Mary was sentenced, prosecutors there noted that Brame was “not in agreement with this disposition.”
“[Brame] is opposed to it and believes Ms. Saunders should be prosecuted for murder … and should be remanded,” Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said during the hearing.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office pointed to past comments prosecutors made in court but noted both James and Chris Saunders are being held without bail and will face trial for Correa’s murder in the coming months.
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