If you're reluctant to pull on the needle, you can make up a miniature crow bar by cutting a short slot in a metal strip that will fit under the hub of the needle. Make the slot just wider than the shaft. Use another thin strip of wood or metal under the crow bar as a fulcrum and push the needle off. The fulcrum shouldn't be so thick that levering the needle off tries to bend the shaft - you want it push it as straight up as possible. It should pop off pretty easily.
Jon