Man who fatally jumped from East Village apartment building identified as controversial art critic Charlie Finch

Robinson posted this picture of Finch on Instagram to commemorate him after he fell to his death on Wednesday.
Robinson posted this picture of Finch on Instagram to commemorate him after he fell to his death on Wednesday. Photo credit Walter Robinson/Instagram

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — One of the two men who jumped to their death just hours apart in separate incidents in New York City on Wednesday was renowned art critic Charlie Finch.

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Finch, 68, was suffering from cancer and other illnesses, according to his former editor Walter Robinson who announced his death on Instagram.

“RIP Charlie Finch, 68, by defenestration, after a long struggle with cancer and other health issues that reduced our art world’s most irascibly Falstaffian art writer — ‘I am the best critic of my generation!’ he would exclaim upon retiring, which he did several times — from larger than life to a mere and miserable shadow of himself,” wrote Robinson.

Finch fell from his fifth-floor window at the co-op apartment building he lived in on East 12th Street near Second Avenue around 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

He was known as a brash and provocative writer who delighted in playing the heel to New York City art scene giants.

“Love him or hate him, quite simply nobody was like him,” wrote Robinson. “He always had something to say, something that was lively, concise and outrageous. At a MoMA opening there he would be, sitting on the floor with a gallery bench as his desk, dashing off a review written in block letters on the back of the exhibition press release.”

If you are in a crisis or have a family member or friend who needs help, you are not alone. Contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Walter Robinson/Instagram