TalkSPORT host Jim White, 69, had a rough encounter with a police officer after he jumped a barrier to get to his show. The sports broadcasting legend was in a rush to cover the World Cup from New York.
Chaos in New York
White was en route to One World Trade Centre for his shift when his way became blocked by heavy traffic caused by a New York Knicks winning parade. The iconic city's streets descended into chaos when the basketball team won their first title in 53 years.
White decided to beat the crowds by vaulting a barrier but was quickly stopped by a police officer. He told his co-presenter Paul Hawksbee: “The place is absolutely gridlocked. My hotel is less than an hour away.”
“So I set off a bit earlier, but then I had problems trying to approach the World Trade Center.”
“As you can see, I’m in, but the crucial moment came, Paul, when there was a barrier in front of me and I decided, right, do I or don’t I? and surrounded by Knicks fans, I decided to jump the barrier.”
“I was flattened by one of NYPD’s finest. They then told me, hey, buddy, if you pull that stunt again, you’ll be arrested.”
A Plea for Help
The officer named Vinny was then approached by the radio host who plead his case. White said: “I said, ‘Vinny, you’ve got to help me here. My name is Jim White. I do a show on talkSPORT with Simon Jordan. White and Jordan, you must have heard of it’.”
“And he looked at me as if, uh-huh, carry on. And he said, 'right, let’s see what we can do'. And Vinny, the senior policeman, and I’ll send a picture of this later, walks me to the top of Broadway and then down to the World Trade Center.”
“And I have made it so has producer Luke. So has Troy Deeney. Let me tell you, Simon Jordan is out there somewhere in amongst two million Knicks fans.”
“Brad Friedel is in the same hotel as me and I don’t think Brad has decided it would be extremely prudent to jump the barrier trying to get here. There is utter chaos here, Paul, let me tell you. Chaos.”
However, Simon Jordan walked into the studio moments later, telling his colleagues he had “no problem” getting to the building.
