A naked man jumped into the East River near Astoria late Tuesday night and was pulled from the water by NYPD officers, who transported him to the Astoria Ferry Terminal before EMS rushed him to a Queens hospital in stable condition. Police say the investigation remains ongoing, and no charges have been filed against him at this time.
According to the New York Post, the man jumped into the river at around 9:18 p.m. Tuesday near the vicinity of 26-03 9th Street, on the Queens side of the East River. NYPD Harbor Unit officers removed him from the water and brought him to the Astoria Ferry Terminal, where EMS took over and transported him to NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst. That location sits less than half a mile from the ferry landing itself, according to StreetEasy, a stretch of Western Queens waterfront that connects local residents to Manhattan and Roosevelt Island via ferry.
Elmhurst is no ordinary neighborhood hospital. The 545-bed facility recorded nearly one million ambulatory care visits in the past year, per NYC Health + Hospitals, and it recently earned re-verification of that trauma designation from the American College of Surgeons. The swimmer’s condition was described as stable, per the police account carried in the Post’s reporting.
A River That Doesn’t Forgive Mistakes
Whatever prompted Tuesday’s plunge, the East River itself offered no margin for error. The waterway is technically a tidal strait rather than a true river, generating strong currents that make self-rescue extremely difficult, as Hoodline has previously reported. Those hidden dangers exist regardless of swimmer skill, since the tidal flows connecting Long Island Sound to New York Harbor can produce strong currents…