I don't see any self harm here. He had his backpack he had a plan. Did you ever hear Frank Sinatra's song "I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps"? Well that is NYC. Places are open 24 hours a day. Maybe he left Penn Station went down to the village and hung out with someone he knew at NYU and slept a little. His apology to his mom: he was going to follow his dream instead of hers. When he gets established I bet he contacts her. No one knows what goes on in anyone's family. Maybe he was expected to return to Nepal after he was educated and he wanted to stay in the states.
I can not imagine anyone going back to Nepal to live after getting a taste of the United States of America. I went to Nepal, we had to ride on elephants to get to our lodge. Was it an adventure, yes. However, the reality of everyday living there:
Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Nepal | The Borgen Project
If he was going to end it all and jump off the bridge, he could have just walked a few blocks further west from Penn Station and jumped into the Hudson River. If he walked south on the west side, he would have jumped off the Chelsea piers. Also 4 blocks from 8th Avenue.
No one could have picked him up on the bridge there is a walkway span above the car lanes. You can not even jump into the water from the walkway. The jumpers have to walk up the steel between the cables and jump off the very high top stone part. When he walked across the bridge he ended up in the borough of Brooklyn. He was probably just missed on the camera, I attached a photo.
Watch the new decade dawn on the Brooklyn Bridge