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Video shows teenagers being rescued from cliffside in Upper Manhattan

Video shows NYPD boat rescue teens from cliffside
Video shows NYPD boat rescue teens from cliffside 01:43

NEW YORK -- Three teenagers were rescued after they got stuck on a cliffside in Upper Manhattan on Wednesday.

Video shows the moment a New York City Police Department Harbor Patrol boat pulls up to the cliff in Inwood.

Teens rescued from Inwood cliffside

Emergency crews responded after getting calls about people jumping off rocks into the water of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, which meets the Hudson River to the west just under the Henry Hudson Bridge.

Climbing on the rocks or swimming in the creek is not permitted in that area.

Witnesses watched in disbelief as three teenagers hung onto the rocks for dear life.

"All of them were in the equivalent of almost swim trunks -- no shoes, no tops," witness Helen Churko said.

"We see, like, these three guys that are on the cliffs, and these cops come, then we see a boat come," said 11-year-old Tristen Baez, who spoke to CBS New York with permission from his parent.

EMS crews waited at the corner of West 218th Street and Indian Road near Inwood Hill Park. Witnesses caught one teen being carried away on a stretcher while the other two were escorted to ambulances.

"They looked a little jarred, but they were functioning," Churko said.

"They shouldn't do it. It's dangerous," Tristen said.

It's not clear why the teens were on the cliff, but witnesses says the EMS crews were on point, saving the teens from further danger.

"I didn't know how it was going to turn out, so seeing them all being escorted out, especially watching the two that could walk by themselves... It was a good day," Churko said.

Officials say all three teenagers were transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

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