Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone took on the new title of hero as word spread about his efforts to save a choking man at a Scarsdale restaurant on Saturday.

Mario Zuccarelli, who works at the City Clerk's Office, was celebrating his daughters' graduations. He said he started choking on grilled chicken. As a crowd grew around the man, someone stepped up to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

"I felt these great strong arms," Zuccarelli said. "I quickly turned around to thank the person who was doing it and low and behold, it was the mayor of Yonkers."

Amicone, who said he had only seen the maneuver in demonstrations, said fate brought him to the restaurant. The avid baseball fan turned down tickets to a Yankees game to attend a fundraiser at the restaurant.

For an interview with the mayor and choking victim, go to channel 612 on your digital iO cable box and select iO Extra.