Just doing job saves a life
Deckhands pull thrashing man to safety

Friday, August 15, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Two deckhands with New York Waterway said yesterday they were just doing their jobs when they plucked a man out of the Hudson River Wednesday night.

"You see someone in trouble, your training kicks in," said Cruz Marcano, who with Nestor Martinez, rescued the man just off the Paulus Hook Terminal pier in Jersey City.

"The last thing you want to see is the guy submerged. I don't think I did anything heroic."

As the ferry Frank Sinatra was pulling into the pier Wednesday around 7:45 p.m., Marcano said he noticed a man in the water waving wildly, but in the grips of either a Jersey City police or Port Authority diver.

The deck hands and ferry Capt. Tom Colomara let passengers off, then moved closer to the pier to see if they could help.

When they got about 25 feet from the pier, the man wiggled free from the diver and started swimming away wildly, said Marcano.

That's when the training kicked in.

The deckhands lowered a "Jason's cradle" into the water, essentially a basket someone can get in. Then they threw a life-saver toward the man.

At first he resisted, but then the man, who was wearing only his underwear, grabbed onto the lifesaver.

Martinez pulled the man onto the cradle, and then together the deck hands hoisted the man onto the ferry.

For Martinez, 32, an East Newark resident, it was his second rescue. Several years ago a colleague fell into the water and he helped him out. It was Marcano's first rescue. But frequent drills made it feel routine, said Marcano, a 35-year-old Brooklyn resident.

The man was transported to the Jersey City Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation, police reports said.

New York Waterway owner Arthur Imperatore congratulated the crew yesterday.

But even more special, Martinez said, is when he got home, his 6-year-old daughter Savannah said to him: "I'm proud of you. You're my lifesaver."

Sounds more like the guy over-heated from too much speed.
We have had naked dudes running around here, desperately trying to cool down from the effects of drugs.

Pretty odd story.

No legal problems here... right?

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Did it seem as if they guy wanted to be rescued?

I got to swim once in the Hudson River. I wouldn't want to swim close to shore, but, once you get a little ways out, it's fine. I'm sure it has all sorts of horrible chemicals in it, but not anything that kills people instantaneously.

Also: New York is a little far from Jersey City, but I don't think it's that far, from the perspective of a good swimmer.

The hard part would be just staying out of the way of the ferries.

Quote:

does anyone really care about a drunk who jumped into Hudson?

Happens every day, dude.

so he did not go overboard? he came from the waterfront?

hmmm who should we trust - the JJ and their fact finding prowess or a blogger?

is it ever really a question - the JJ gets it wrong far too often

I was there. I missed him going in the water, but I did witness him getting rescued. According the people there, he took off his clothes, put them on a nearby bench and jumped in the water from the Jersey City waterfront. I posted some pics on my blog...

Ferry passenger winds up in water, rescued in Jersey City

by The Associated Press
Wednesday August 13, 2008, 9:15 PM

A New York Waterway ferry crew rescued a man who went overboard tonight as the ferry Frank Lautenberg was pulling into the Jersey City waterfront.

The incident began around 7:45 p.m. when the unidentified man somehow ended up in the Hudson River, said Pat Smith, a spokesman for NY Waterway.

Smith said two deck hands -- whom he identified as Nestor Martinez and Cruz Marcano -- went down a ladder and were able to pull the struggling man out of the water while Thomas Colomara, the boat captain, notified authorities.

It was not known if the man was injured in the incident.