GREENWICH VILLAGE — Rescue workers from the FDNY and NYPD raced to a pier near West 14th Street Tuesday morning after a call went out of a man overboard in the Hudson River.
But rescue workers discovered the man in the water was actually a floating dummy — used as part of a rescue exercise drill by the NY Waterway ferry service, officials said.
"The dummy is in good condition," NY Waterway spokesman Patrick Smith said. "It was just a drill."
Smith said he did not know whether the company informed the FDNY about the drill ahead of time.
Smith said NY Waterway conducts rescue exercises nearly every week. Inspectors anonymously board their ferries and toss human-like dummies or lifejackets into the water and gauge the crews' response time, he said.
"It's a way to keep people on their toes and it pays," he said.
An FDNY said they were not responsible for the drill. They did not immediately say whether they were informed about the drill ahead of time.
