John William Warde

John William Warde was a 26-year-old American bank clerk from Southampton, New York, who committed suicide on July 26, 1938. He leaped from a window ledge of the 17th floor of the Gotham Hotel at 5th Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan. The son of a Long Island express agent, his 12-hour dilemma before jumping held 300 New York City Police Department officers at bay. They were afraid of making a bold move that might cause Warde to jump.