New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang intervened after a man knocked a photographer over and threatened him with a metal pole on a ferry ride to Staten Island Friday.
“It probably all went down in like 15 seconds. I was on the phone talking to a friend when everyone else went in and I turned around and there’s a guy an inch away from my face,” photographer Spencer Platt told The City.
Platt was taking pictures for GETTY images when a man approached him, knocked him to the ground and was ready to hit him with the metal pole.
Platt was on the ferry with other members of the media as they were accompanying Yang to Staten Island for the day.
When Yang saw the incident, he put himself in between the attacker and the photographer and talked the attacker down.
“I didn’t have much time to think. I saw the photographer get shoved and it seemed like it might get worse. So I did what I think a lot of people would do, which is like: ‘I have to prevent this person from getting hurt,’” Yang told The City. “So I got up as quickly as I could and tried to intervene before the man could swing.”
The attacker seemed to recognize Yang, who gained notoriety after his failed presidential campaign in 2020, and backed off.
“I’m glad that when he turned he saw me and recognized me, and the situation deescalated quickly,” Yang said in a statement emailed to The Hill.
Two NYPD police officers took the man away after they were notified of the confrontation, but a NYPD spokesperson told The Hill that no charges were filed against the man.
“Stuff happens, but rarely does it lead to someone shoving you to the ground and holding a metal bar over your head,” Platt said.
Yang used the opportunity to tell The City about the need for more mental health services in the city and that he plans to put more funding into it if he becomes mayor.
Yang gained popularity during his presidential race and starting conversations about universal basic income, the biggest proposal in his campaign.
The Hill has reached out to Yang’s campaign for comment.
Updated: 7:14 p.m.