Tappan Zee Bridge

Tappan Zee Bridge - A “clearly troubled” Rockland County man dangled for three hours from the Tappan Zee Bridge before plunging into the frigid Hudson yesterday in a stunt meant to protest his local public officials.

“It’s the only way I could get anyone to pay any attention to what happened to me!” Michael Davitt said as he was loaded into an ambulance (inset) and taken to Westchester County Medical Center for evaluation.

Cops said Davitt had been angry about being canned from his substance-abuse counseling job in 2008 and had spent several years pestering local politicians about it, accusing them of a “cover-up” and “retaliation.”

Davitt, a married father of two grown children, regularly protests outside county buildings and at Rockland County Legislature meetings.

“Today, he not only stepped over the line, he jumped over it,” said Rockland County Sheriff James Kralik.

Davitt drove his van to the bridge yesterday morning, lowered a rope ladder from the center of the eastbound span and climbed down, carrying a sign that read “Rockland Executive Legislature Coverup Retaliation.”

He sat in a makeshift harness until nearly 2 p.m., dangling about 65 feet above the water, drinking from a Thermos and swaying in the wind.

Traffic was snarled for miles.

Police finally set out to pull him down, but as the police boat approached, Davitt jumped from a height of about 10 feet, into the water.

He grabbed a lifeline and was handcuffed aboard the boat.

via: nypost