City beaches face lifeguard shortage
BY ROSE ADAMS
Beaches reopened for swimming
on July 1 following coronavirus
related closures, but
a shortage of lifeguards has
kept large sections of shoreline
closed, causing some beachgoers
to crowd into the open bays,
locals said.
“They are squeezing everyone
into the crowded bays that
are staffed by lifeguards while
chasing people out of the water
in between,” said Coney Islander
Orlando Mendez.
Only four of the 14 bays
along Coney Island’s west end
were open over the Fourth of
July weekend because of the
lifeguard shortage, with the entire
shoreline between Steeplechase
Pier and W. 31st street remaining
closed, Mendez said.
As a result, visitors crammed
into the open bays between W.
32nd and W. 35th streets, where
lifeguards were on duty.
“There were too many people,
and they were too close,”
said Mendez, who went to the
beach on Sunday with his
grandson. “My grandson, he
said, ‘Look how many people
there are there. I don’t want to
go there.'”
COURIER L 4 IFE, JULY 10-16, 2020
Several sections of Coney
Island Beach’s eastern side, including
the section between
Ocean Parkway and Coney Island
Avenue, were closed after
the holiday weekend because of
a lack of lifeguards, said beachgoer
Jill Martino.
The July 1 beach opening
came only weeks after the city
began employing and training
lifeguards — a process that
usually starts in January, but
was put on hold because of the
coronavirus outbreak. The city
has only hired approximately
500 lifeguards this year, about
100 fewer than last year, forcing
the Parks Department to open
fewer bays, a Parks spokesperson
said.
A Coney Island offi cial
blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio for
the shortage of lifeguards and
the widespread beach closures.
“I am told that there are
fewer people working this summer
than in previous years because
the mayor could not make
a decision and did not negotiate
in good faith,” said Councilman
Mark Treyger. “Precious time
was lost.”
It wasn’t until around Memorial
Day that City Hall began
preparing for the beach
openings in July, the deputy
commissioner for the Parks
Department told the New York
Times.
The abbreviated timeline
prevented the Parks Department
from hiring enough lifeguards
for opening day, since
lifeguard training takes about
one month to complete, Treyger
said.
To add to the department’s
problems, de Blasio and health
offi cials did not negotiate with
the union that represents lifeguards
about increased benefi
ts and new coronavirus protocols
until shortly before the
July 1 deadline, the pol said.
“They’ve had to really incorporate
CDC guidelines, they’ve
had to incorporate health experts,”
said Treyger, adding that
the mayor could have reached
out to experts sometime before
May. “It didn’t cost him a dime
to simply ask questions. And he
didn’t do it.”
To help prevent lifeguards
from contracting coronavirus,
all lifeguards are provided
with personal protective
equipment and will
administer CPR using a CPR
bag rather than mouth-t0-
mouth resuscitation, according
to the Parks Department.
But they won’t receive line-ofduty
benefi ts if they contract
COVID-19 on the job — a question
that District 37, the union
that represents park workers,
raised during their negotiations
with City Hall, according
to Treyger.
“People were asking the
same questions,” he said. “Is it
safe? Are there benefi ts?”
Treyger also expressed
concerns that the limited
beach openings will prompt
beachgoers to crowd into the
open areas, possibly violating
social distancing guidelines.
“It means people are going
to gather into those small sections
that are open,” he said.
The mayor’s offi ce did not
immediately respond to a request
for comment.
Locals fl ocked to the beach at Coney Island over the Fourth of July weekend,
but only a small portion of the beach was open because of the lifeguard
shortage. Photo by Todd Maisel
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