It happened at Hermon A. MacNeil Park in College Point as volunteers were getting ready for a parade and a festival when bystanders started shouting. A woman reportedly took her baby and started walking into the East River.
Retired police officer Paul Pinsdorf was setting up in the park and heard the cries. He ran to the water's edge to see who needed help.
"I saw the woman in the water with the baby. We called 911. I went in the water, she resisted me -- her mind was lost," Pinsdorf said.
Authorities suspect the distraught woman was trying to drown herself and her five-month-old baby girl.
The hero soon became her lifeline -- there was not a second to waste. The water was already up to her neck.
"I had to manhandle...pull her back. She resisted the whole time. Thankfully it worked out," said Pinsdorf.
"Paul is a hero. He was the one who went in and grabbed her," said Kevin O'Donnell.
First responders arrived quickly and rushed mother and baby to the hospital while the parade and party went on as planned.
"I'm happy. I did a good thing today," added Pinsdorf.
The mother was taken to North Shore University Hospital for evaluation. The baby was brought to another hospital in stable condition.
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