The NYPD rescued a Tennessee man from the East River this morning, authorities said.
A passerby spotted the unhinged man in the water near the FDR Drive and East 81st Street shortly before 10 a.m., and called the police.
When ESU Detective Robert Mirfield and his partner Officer Paul Braver heard the job come over, Mirfield began driving quickly up the FDR while Braver suited up in a dry suit, cops said.
They hit heavy traffic near 76th Street because of drivers gawking at the loony man, but were able to spot him near 81st Street, cops added.
Braver climbed over an 8-foot chain link fence, then jumped into the water — an 8 to 10 foot drop.
When he reached him, Harbor Patrol cops had given the man an orange life ring to float on. Braver tried to calm him down, cops said. He kept yelling over and over that he was scared, and telling the officer to get away.
Braver put his arm around the man, and the Harbor Launch 3 boat pulled them on a rope connected to the ring onboard.
He was resisting so much that the Harbor cop dislocated his shoulder, authorities added.
When they got the disturbed man on board, cops had to handcuff him from hurting himself or the officers. He was wearing only an orange poncho.
Cops asked him for his name, but he gave six phony names, police sources said. He eventually blurted out a phone number, sources added. They were able to reach his mother in Tennessee, and identify him.
He is being evaluated and treated at New York Cornell Hospital. The injured officer was treated at Lutheran Medical Center.