Rescuers Save Man Over a New York Highway

May 6, 2004 -- Rescuers pulled a man to safety yesterday as he tried to hang himself off a sign 30 feet above a busy Brooklyn highway, officials said.

The unidentified man scaled the fence of a footbridge crossing the Prospect Expressway at Greenwood Avenue around 5 p.m. and made his way to a beam holding up the sign.

He wrapped a noose made from a boot lace around his neck and tied the other end to the beam.

"He was saying 'leave me alone. I'm going to end it,' " said Fire Lieutenant Thomas Baroz, who climbed after the man.

"It took everything we could to hold onto this guy," said Baroz, who was helped by other firefighters and cops.

The man was taken to Lutheran Hospital for observation.