Andrew Yang intervened when a man wielding a metal pole attacked a photojournalist on the Staten Island Ferry

• Andrew Yang intervened Friday when a man wielding a metal pipe attacked a photojournalist.
• Yang was able to calm the man and allow the journalist to exit the situation, according to reports.
• Yang, a former presidential candidate, is running for mayor of New York City.

Andrew Yang, the businessman and former candidate for president who is running for mayor of New York City, intervened to help a news photographer who was attacked Friday while on a ferry in Staten Island.

According to a report from the Staten Island Advance, Yang at around 11 a.m. Friday was traveling from Manhattan to Staten Island with his staff and a small group of reporters as the mayoral candidate planned to tour the borough.

The photojournalist, Getty Images photographer Spencer Platt, told The New York Post he was talking on the phone when he was approached by his would-be attacker, clad in black cowboy hat and jeans, on the outdoor deck of the ferry

"I just said, 'What's up?' He Immediately shoves me, I kind of tumble down," Platt told the outlet. "I get back up, and he raises a steel bar - a broomstick handle - over his head."

"He looks like he's ready to strike me," he added.

Yang, who was inside the ferry, rushed to the outdoor deck to intervene, according to the reports.

"I think most people would have the same impulse I had," Yang told the Staten Island Advance. "To try and do anything that you can to protect somebody who might be threatened or endangered."

Yang told the outlet that the attacker recognized him before "the situation de-escalated quickly."

"I got up and tried to intervene as quickly as I could," Yang said. "I'm thrilled that when he turned he saw me and recognized me, and the situation de-escalated quickly."

Platt told the Staten Island Advance he thought the man would've "clocked" him without intervention from Yang and his team.

Yang is one in a crowded group of people running for New York City mayor to replace Bill de Blasio, who is serving his final term as mayor. Yang was one of many candidates who vied for the Democratic Party's 2020 nominee for president.

According to Politico, Yang was leading the candidate among those surveyed in a poll by New York City-based Fontas Advisors and conducted by Core Decision Analytics earlier this month. About 84% of those surveyed said they knew who Yang was, with 28% of respondents choosing him as their top contender.