The George Clinton Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge is high enough that if you lean out over the railing and look down, a queasy sensation will start up in the back of your legs.

With a drop of 152 feet, if one fell over the railing, approximately three seconds would pass before hitting the water—enough time to reach a free-falling speed of 66 miles per hour. Entering the water at that velocity, the water molecules are unlikely to be displaced fast enough. The surface tension of the water will feel like rock-solid land.

“Anytime there’s a call for someone either about to jump or having jumped off the bridge, we dispatch our marine unit,” said Ulster County Undersheriff James Mullen. “We do try to go out as soon as we can, because we really want to be a rescue team, but obviously off that bridg

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