Cindy Yeh, a 23-year-old intern at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, has died following a tragic accident at a rooftop party, reports the New York Post. Yeh was at a party at a Greenwich Village townhouse when she lost her balance while dancing near the edge of the sloping roof, plummeting four stories to the ground. According to the New York Times, she was declared dead shortly after arriving at Bellevue Hospital.
According to neighbors, the residence at 179 Sullivan Street was known for throwing raucous rooftop parties that continued into the wee hours of the morning, and that the three party hosts had a lease that was about to expire. “Last night was their final farewell party on the roof,” a neighbor told the Post.
“Lots of drinking,” added neighbor Rene Felio, 25. “I am sure roofs and getting drunk are a bad mix.” A search of the scene following the accident revealed a profusion of beer, wine, and Champagne bottles.
The incident took place at about 1:10 a.m. “It was like she just tumbled down and smashed down in front of the building,” a 25-year-old witness who lives nearby told the Post. “Her friends ran out of the door screaming. A guy held her and yelled out, ‘She’s still breathing!’ ”
“There was a lot of bleeding from her head,” one building resident noted in speaking with the Post. Yeh was treated on the scene by EMTs before being taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was declared brain-dead, according to the NYPD.
A native of San Jose, California, Yeh was a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, where she studied communications with a concentration in film. She had been participating in a yearlong internship at MoMA.
“The Museum of Modern Art is greatly saddened by the news of Cindy Yeh’s tragic death,” the museum told the Times in a statement. “Cindy was a beloved member of the MoMA family.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article, based on inaccurate reporting from the New York Post, incorrectly stated that Yeh was engaged to be married. artnet News regrets the error.