Aug 23, 2011 09:53 GMT  ·  By

Ryan Gosling may be one of the highest rated young actors of today but, as the video below will confirm, he is also an occasional, part-time crime fighter. Video has emerged of the actor breaking up a street fight in New York City.

The video, uploaded on YouTube a few days ago, shows two men fighting over a painting in the middle of a very crowded street.

One of them is yelling at the other, who will not let go of the painting even if he gets punched for it, that he “stole it” and that he took it without paying for it.

Several other people are around them, trying – and obviously failing – to break them up. At one point, a guy in a striped tank top, a cap and a bag of groceries comes in, positioning himself right between the two.

He drops the bag from his hand and is making obvious efforts to keep the two from fighting and hurting each other.

The girl holding the camera and others around her take a few seconds to realize who he is. Then, one of them screams “Oh my God, it’s Ryan!”

The explanation follows suit: the crime fighter is “the guy from the movie... The Notebook!” As “the guy from the movie” comes near the camera, he also offers confirmation that he is, indeed, Ryan Gosling.

E! Online says the girl who shot the video is freelance photographer Valerie Alvea, who just happened to be at the intersection by St. Marks’ Place in the East Village.

She says Gosling made sure the two left for their home at peace.

“He took them to the corner and asked them what was going on. The gentleman was like ‘He stole my painting’,” Alvea says for the e-zine.

“So he [Gosling] gave the guy a $20 and asked if it was settled. He took the money out of his pocket and said ‘If that’s what you’re fighting for, here you go’,” she adds.

This way, he made sure that police didn’t even have to intervene in the altercation.

When he’s not fighting crime in New York City, Ryan Gosling is filming for “The Place Beyond The Pines,” for which he dyed his hair a very light blonde.