Swimmer Drowns Off Coast Of Rockaway Beach: Police

FAR ROCKAWAY, QUEENS — A 24-year-old man drowned off the coast of Rockaway Beach Friday afternoon, according to police.

First responders pulled the man from the water just after 3 p.m. near Beach 91st Street and rushed him to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, but he couldn't be saved, a police spokesperson told Patch.

Two other swimmers were rescued from the water and survived, the spokesperson said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered city beaches to remain closed this Memorial Day Weekend because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, meaning there will be no lifeguards on-duty.

“This is a tragedy. We urge all New Yorkers to stay out of the water — lifeguards are not on duty and no one should be swimming," Jane Meyer, a City Hall spokesperson, said in an emailed statement Friday. "This is a matter of life and death.”

I need every New Yorker to heed the warning: there’s NO swimming on our beaches during this crisis. It is NOT safe.

We don’t want want to fence off the beaches but we will if we have to.

We’ll have extra Parks and NYPD walking the beaches this weekend to keep New Yorkers safe. https://t.co/hd5JixxcTD
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 22, 2020

The lack of lifeguards worries public officials like State Sen. Diane Savino of Staten Island, who previously tweeted that not staffing city beaches with lifeguards is "begging for unnecessary tragedy."

Of the 34 people who have drowned at public beaches in the last decade, only six drowned while a lifeguard was on duty, The New York Times reported last summer.

City beaches will be open for walks this weekend but will be fenced off if crowds start to gather, the mayor said.

Police officers and parks department workers will be on hand to ensure beachgoers adhere to bans on swimming and social gatherings, according to the mayor's office.

Meanwhile, New York State beaches open Friday with restrictions that include capping capacity at 50 percent, closing concessions and banning group contact.

Swimming season at beaches traditionally starts at 10 a.m. on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, according to a spokesperson for the parks department.