GREENWICH VILLAGE — A Greenwich Village rooftop party took a tragic turn early Sunday when a young woman fell to her death onto the sidewalk below, police said.
Cindy Yeh, 23, was at a penthouse party on Sullivan Street between Houston and Bleecker streets, dancing on a ramp that hangs off the roof, when she accidentally stumbled over the edge, falling four stories to the ground, according to police and witnesses.
Officers who were called to the scene at 1:08 a.m. discovered Yeh unconscious on the sidewalk, police said. After she fell, people gathered on the street, crying and hugging one another.
Yeh, a Bushwick resident, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, police sources said. Doctors fought to save her, but she was declared dead about 3:45 a.m., according to a family friend and an official police report.
Police said their investigation was ongoing on Monday.
The Department of Buildings issued two violations to 179 Sullivan St. following the accident, saying that people were not allowed to be on the roof. One violation was for illegal occupancy of the roof and another was for construction without a permit to build a wooden deck on the second floor in the back of the building.
As of Sunday, a partial vacate order was posted telling people to stay off of the roof.
A woman listed on Department of Building records as the owner of the property declined to comment.
Yeh, a graduate of the University of California San Diego's Communication Department, was just wrapping up a yearlong internship at the Museum of Modern Art.
"The Museum of Modern Art is greatly saddened by the news of Cindy Yeh's tragic death," MoMA said in a statement. "Having spent the last year as a Digital Learning Intern in our Education Department, Cindy was a beloved member of the MoMA family. Our deepest condolences are with Ms. Yeh's family and friends at this difficult time."
With reporting by Rosa Goldensohn
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the time and manner of Yeh's death. She was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital at 3:45 a.m. Sunday.
