Brooklyn Bridge Climber Rescued After 3 Tense Hours

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Tension lifted atop the Brooklyn Bridge on Friday when an apparently-suicidal man stepped back from a ledge and toward police.

The man's surrender ended a nearly-three hour ordeal that shut down traffic across the iconic bridge and glued New Yorkers to their screens.

NYPD officers took man to a local hospital for evaluation, authorities said.

Witnesses spotted the man climbing up the bridge at about 12 p.m. He made it atop a bridge tower and prompted police to close traffic as they mounted a rescue.

And it all took place in front of New Yorkers with an eagle-eye view from their buildings, or with a screen.

They took video of police scaling the bridge's wires and the man moving alternately closer to police and the edge.

Helicopter footage released by NYPD showed the man — described as "despondent" in a tweet— near the bridge's flag pole. Officers in tactical gear appeared to be trying to talk him off the ledge and to safety.

"This is insane," someone can be heard saying on one video showing the man at the bridge's very edge.

All the while, police aviation and harbor units circled the bridge. Motorists, apparently stuck in traffic, took to the Citizen app to post videos showing long lines of cars and police on top of the bridges.

Finally, at about 2:50 p.m., the man went to police and safety.

The man's apparent distress prompted well wishes, but also queasiness from some who questioned why people and media outlets would broadcast videos.

"(V)ideoing a suicide attempt doesn’t help the person that’s struggling, our society is so desensitized it’s sick," wrote one Twitter user.

Mayor Bill de Blasio himself tweeted thanks to the NYPD for averting tragedy.

"This is why we call them New York's Finest," he wrote.