Shocking Brooklyn Bridge drama: Naked man leaps into East River, survives

The 44-year-old was rescued shortly after entering the water and was later taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, where he was reported to be in stable condition.

According to the New York Post, police sources said the man scaled the north tower of the iconic bridge on the Manhattan side at around 2:30 p.m. Before jumping, he allegedly attached several flags to the top of the bridge and removed his clothing.

One of the flags was reportedly the Kazakhstan national flag, while another appeared to be a blanket bearing handwritten text. The contents of the writing were not immediately clear, the newspaper reported.

Officers from the NYPD Harbor Unit quickly responded and pulled the man from the East River after the jump.

Authorities have not disclosed the man's identity or the motive behind the incident.

Several videos of the dramatic episode have since gone viral on social media.

The incident comes just days after another rescue operation on the Brooklyn Bridge, when NYPD officers spent more than an hour persuading a distressed woman to come down from the bridge's steel cables. According to the New York Post, the woman had a history of mental health issues before she was safely rescued.