Mayor Adams favors education over increased lifeguard hours

CONEY ISLAND, Brooklyn (PIX11) — Facing mounting pressure to do something about drownings at the city’s beaches , New York City Mayor Eric Adams insisted on Tuesday that safety is improving.

There were a record-breaking 800,000 visitors to the city’s 14 miles of beaches during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

But with so many people comes risk.

There have been several recent drownings, including two sisters who went for a swim off Coney Island Beach after hours.

Adams attended their funeral.

“It was a real painful moment of having these two children die this way,” Adams said.

However, Adams said lifeguard staffing is improving after years of hiring issues. New York City has about 800 lifeguards citywide due to enhanced pay and bonuses and streamlined training requirements with the lifeguards union.

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi has been spearheading the efforts. She said the measures were only partially in place during this year‘s lifeguard recruiting season, but there will be a real difference next year.

Still, there have been calls to extend lifeguards’ hours past 6 p.m. Adams responded Tuesday by saying there are resources in place to warn about the dangers of after-hours swimming.

This includes signs, park enforcement patrol officers, and an FDNY and NYPD presence, including drones flying into the early evening hours.

“Our hours are similar to other large cities around the country,” Adams said. “It’s more about education, identifying what the flags mean when lifeguards are on duty.”

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