Man found dead in the water at Rockaway Beach, in a summer rife with drownings

Police found a man dead in the water near the Rockaway Beach boardwalk in Queens shortly after midnight Monday morning, officials said.

Bystanders spotted the man floating around 12:30 a.m. and called 911, police said. First-responders performed CPR and took the man to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the medical examiner was working to determine exactly how the man died, but said his death did not seem suspicious. Officials could not immediately say whether the death was connected to any reports of missing swimmers at the beach over the weekend. The man was estimated to be in his 30s.

At least four New Yorkers have drowned at city beaches so far this summer. Bronx sisters Zainab Mohammed, 17, and Aisha Mohammed, 18, died while swimming at Coney Island Beach on July 5.

About a week earlier, police found the bodies of 16-year-old Elyjha Chandler and 17-year-old Christian Perkins, who vanished in the water at Jacob Riis Park on June 21. Experts say intense erosion is contributing to rip tides and other hazardous swimming conditions at Jacob Riis Park, where the teenage boys died.

The deaths spurred some elected officials to call for extending lifeguard hours, though Mayor Eric Adams said efforts should instead focus on teaching the public about water safety.

“It's more about education,” Adams told reporters during a City Hall press conference, adding that the city needed to “educate parents on when is the time to be in the water and when we don’t want people in the water.”

Only four people died by drowning at New York City beaches in all of last season.