Police say the man jumped in and started swimming away from land Saturday afternoon.
Crew members from a Statue of Liberty cruise approached him with a lifeboat, but he refused to get in.
A National Park Service police officer then swam out, grabbed the man and swam to shore with him.
Sgt. David Somma of the U.S. Park Police says the man who tried to swim away was identified as 70-year-old Lin Wen Shan.
He was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.