![This is the New York Waterway Ferry [The Jersey City]...](https://www.nydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2016/08/31/6JRWN3YHRCMR3WWHBT7K657ENE.jpg?w=620)
An NY Waterway ferry hit a group of kayakers in the Hudson River Tuesday, cutting one man’s arm to the bone and sending four other paddlers to the hospital, officials said.
The vessel, named the Jersey City, was pulling out of the pier and about to turn south on its way to Wall St. when it ran into 10 kayakers, in nine boats, at Pier 79 at about 5:45 p.m., officials said.
The kayakers — part of a group led by the Manhattan Kayak Co. — had left from Pier 84, and were headed south as well, said NYPD Inspector David Driscoll, who commands the Harbor Unit.
A male employee of the kayak company had his arm severely cut, Driscoll said.
“His bone was exposed. He had lost a lot of blood, and he was lapsing in and out of consciousness,” Driscoll said. Officer Tommy Le rushed to his aid, using a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and “quite possibly saving this individual’s life.”
That victim went to Bellevue Hospital, while four others — two men and two women — were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital.
Driscoll said police were looking into whether glare blinded the pilot to the kayakers’ presence.
The pilot tested clean for drugs and alcohol, he said.
Eric Stiller, who owns the kayak company, called the trip a routine guided tour.
“We have done it hundreds of times,” he said, adding that groups usually take tours at the slack tide. “It’s not a good day. We’re just grateful that everyone is going to be OK.”
Sources said the boat’s pilot checked his radar a couple of times, and that he saw something red out of the corner of his eye. Thinking it was a kayak, he cut the boat’s engines.
