A distraught woman yesterday tried to commit suicide by leaping off a Statue of Liberty ferry in front of horrified tourists, U.S. Parks Police said.
“I looked over and saw her in the water — I thought, ‘Oh, my God! We have to get her!’ ” said Al McGee, 50, a deckhand aboard the Lady Liberty boat in Battery Park, Manhattan.
The 57-year-old Bronx woman had boarded the docked boat at Pier 5 near Battery Place and State Street, authorities said.
She made her way to the rear upper deck of the moored boat and then suddenly jumped into the water at 2:43 p.m., U.S Parks Police said.
McGee and other crewmembers quickly launched a lifeboat and tossed a life preserver to the woman, who grabbed it. They then hauled her back aboard.
“She seemed out of it, a little dazed,” said McGee of Bay Ridge, Brookyn.
Concessions manager Marco Bedoya, 42, acted as a translator for EMS workers for the French-speaking woman.
“She looked so depressed,” Bedoya said. “She was very confused. She told me in French that she was Haitian. She told me she didn’t want to live anymore .¤.¤. [that] she threw her documents away outside before she got on the boat.”
The woman was taken to Beth Israel Hospital for observation.
Boat Capt. Peter Giblin praised his crew for doing “a great job.
“They got to her so fast. They performed the way they’re trained to,” he said of his workers.
Added McGee: “It’s a great day when you can save a life.”