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'Rapper' Climbs Light Pole in Times Square, Shuts Down Traffic

By Amy Zimmer | June 28, 2011 10:38am | Updated on June 28, 2011 12:45pm

By Kareem Johnson and Olivia Scheck

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

TIMES SQUARE — Police shut down a portion of Times Square to traffic Tuesday after a man climbed a light pole on 44th Street, in what might have been an attempt to promote his rapping career.

The man was heard rapping from atop his pearch, and witnesses told the New York Post that he was tossing CD's to people in the crowd.

Hundreds gathered at the crossroads of the world to gawk at the man, who clambered up the traffic light pole in Times Square around 9 a.m. The incident also forced emergency workers to shut down a large swath of the area around Seventh Avenue and West 44th Street.

The Post later identified the man as Raymond Velasquez, 34, of Brooklyn, reporting that he had caused a similar fracas last February by jumping over a baracade at the "Today Show."

"He's trying to promote a CD," commented Carlos Amaro, 24, of Queens, who watched the light pole incident unfold. "It's creative when you come to think about it, but this was not the right way to do it."

After police coaxed him from the pole for nearly 2 hours, the man finally came down the pole in front of 1500 Seventh Ave. around 11:15 a.m.

Officers took him away in handcuffs, and brought him to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation, according to the NYPD.

Police sources told the Post that the individual was being charged with reckless endangerment for throwing the CD's into the crowd, but police officials would not confirm the report.

Streets were reopened by noon.