MAN ARRESTED AFTER SETTING HIMSELF ON FIRE IN GOOGLE BUILDING LOBBY

A 63-year-old man from Brooklyn was arrested on Friday on arson charges after allegedly setting himself on fire in the lobby of a building housing Google's offices in Lower Manhattan. According to the NYPD, John Butch used a lighter and accelerant to ignite himself around 3 p.m. in the lobby of 315 Hudson Street. Emergency services responded after multiple people called 911, and Butch was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Centre with burns and listed in stable condition.

The 10-storey building, which spans approximately 500,000 square feet, houses Google as its largest tenant, occupying roughly 410,556 square feet of office space. The location forms part of Google's Hudson Square campus, described as representing more than $1 billion in investment in the company's New York operations. The building also contains offices for the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau, New York City departments, the New York Society for the Deaf, and other businesses, with street-level tenants including Sweetgreen and Joe & the Juice.

Butch faces charges of arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. Police confirmed he is not an NYPD employee. A Google spokesperson stated the individual appeared to be seeking access to another tenant's space, and that the company remains in close contact with local authorities. Police have not disclosed why Butch allegedly set himself on fire or whether he had any connection to the tenant he appeared to be attempting to reach. The investigation remains ongoing.