Police Pull ‘Emotionally Disturbed’ Man from Hudson In Front of Gawking Crowd
The man attempts to scramble up the rocks away from rescue workers.
Police officers pulled a man out of the Hudson River in the West 70’s on Monday night as he attempted to swim away from them.
It took several rescue workers to get the man to come out of the water, said Marianne Hettinger, who witnessed the scene and sent us the photo and video.
“A young man dressed in shorts, who was swimming in the Hudson in Riverside park and 72nd street at 6:45pm refused to be taken in by police, frog men who tried to rescue him by land and via boats- he swam away until finally around 8 men subdued,” Hettinger wrote. “Don’t know what preceded this but he was fighting them. A lot of brave first responders risked injury by diving into the Hudson.”
The man even tried to scramble up the rocks to get away from the rescue workers, as seen in the cropped photo below.
“It took a bunch of men to get him onto the police boat. On the picture you see he tried to climb up on the rocks and get away from them,” she wrote.
Capt. Timothy Malin of the 20th precinct told us the man was not charged with any crime — it’s legal to swim in the Hudson — but had been acting erratically and clearly needed help. Malin said the incident occurred closer to 79th Street.
“The removal of his clothing while on shore combined with his statements to officers indicated that he was clearly emotionally disturbed, and he was merely removed for medical attention,” he wrote.
“In fact, a family member commended our 20th Precinct first responders for linking him with the needed medical attention.”
The crowd is “gawking” and yet WSR posts two photos and a video of the incident…
Isn’t that the job of the news media, including a blog dedicated to UWS news?
In an era when the occupant of the White House routinely attacks the free press, even calling it an “enemy of the people”, shouldn’t we all be SUPPORTING EVERY FORM OF HONEST REPORTAGE?
Not everything is about trump.
Sure. A photograph of the scene is totally acceptable, but a video and a bunch of photos and then complaining of ‘gawking’ is a bit much.
Idn’t dat innerestin’:
“In fact, a family member commended our 20th Precinct first responders for linking him with the needed medical attention.”
TAKE THAT!, Ultra-Librul Police Brutality Kvetchers!
Thank you to NYPD for watching our for us!
From the pictures you can clearly see the 79th street marina a few blocks north so Capt. Malin is mistaken at it being at 79 St.
Hopefully the guy is OK, if you are going to pick a time to swim in the Hudson, mid June is a good time just like the triathalon people will be doing this coming weekend.
Police & all rescue teams did an amazing job!
At least the gawkers were out of the way of the vehicles as opposed to otherpasserby ie. bikers who were oblivious & firefighters had to ask to please get out of the way. & saying “thank you”
We should thank them!
I saw the aftermath of this: several fire trucks, ambulances and dive teams. How much did this incident cost us? Perhaps the family members could help him get some help.
Wait, you can swim in the Hudson??!
While swimming in the Hudson at 72nd street may per se be evidence of mental disturbance, it is not illegal and the man was evidently not in danger of drowning, so what exactly was he being rescued from. As far as his disturbed statements, which are not quoted, if 8 guys tried to grab me while I was swimming I might have some disturbing things to say to them.
Fwiw, I walked by as they were getting out him out of the water. When I asked some gawkers what happened, they told me the guy’s dog had jumped in the water and he went in after it. I asked what happened to the dog; they said the rescuers focused on getting the man out of the water and let the dog go. They added that the man fought the rescuers, wanting to go after his dog. I don’t know if it’s true, since I only saw the end of the incident, but several people who’d been watching told me that same story. I must say, if I were a strong swimmer, I might have dove in after my dog.