DEADLY BEACHES
20 drown in NY-NJ amid guard shortage
Two more people drowned in Big Apple waters over the weekend, as a national shortage of lifeguards has left the city with half as many as it had last year and about a third as many as 2016, data obtained by The Post show.
At least 20 people have drowned in New York and New Jersey waters since April, as swimmers swarm unguarded shores to beat the heat, although summer doesn’t officially start until Tuesday.
As of June 15, the city Parks Department said it has certified 516 lifeguards so far this season.
That’s a 49% drop compared to the 1,013 hired in 2021 and a 66% plunge from the 1,530 lifeguards it had in 2016.
“As with every year, this is a rolling process and we will continue to recertify returning lifeguards up to the July Fourth weekend,” said Department of Parks and Recreation spokesperson Crystal Howard.
There have been 15 drowning deaths this year in New Jersey and five in New York, most in the past two weeks.
On Friday night, a teenage girl and a man drowned in separate incidents in the Rockaways.
The girl, 16, was swimming near Beach 108th Street when she went under just after 6 p.m., police said. Her body was pulled out by civilians.
About 20 minutes later, the man, believed to be in his 20s, got into trouble off Beach 98th Street, cops said.
Park officials said both had been swimming in prohibited areas and were in the water after 6 p.m., when lifeguards leave for the day.
The toll so far
The grim scorecard also includes:
New Milford (NJ) High School student Clinten Ajit, 18, drowned in a town pond after attempting to retrieve a soccer ball April 22.
Alfred Williams, 19, of Pennsylvania, died swimming off a Wildwood, NJ, beach May 31.
Joel Green, 53, also of Pennsylvania, perished June 7 after swimming at Wildwood Crest, NJ.
Ryan Wong and Daniel Persaud, both 13, were standing on a sandbar in Jamaica Bay near Beach 96th Street and Cross Bay Boulevard in Jamaica Bay at around 11:40 a.m. June 10, when it collapsed and they went under.
Fernando Perez, 24, of Lake Hopatcong, NJ, drowned while swimming off a Belmar, NJ, beach June 13.
Elizabeth Treharne, 59, of Toms River, NJ, perished after being swept away in Island Beach State Park in New Jersey at 8:20 p.m. June 13.
A 17-year-old boy and a 22year-old man were at Mine Hill Beach at Sunset Lake in Morris County at around 5:20 p.m. June 14, when they went into the water and never emerged.
When it comes to people in distress, “the average nonswimming adult will struggle for about a minute and then go under. For a child, it’s 20 seconds,” said Andrea Zaferes, 56, who teaches diving and water rescue to fire, law enforcement, EMS and the military.
In many of the New Jersey drownings, there were no lifeguards present or the victims were swimming in places that were off-limits, according to NJ.com.
Mayor Adams this week pledged to “think outside the box and see what we can do” about resuming swimming lessons. He also contended that a pay raise — lifeguards get $16.10 an hour — wasn’t the answer, insisting that the guards do their job “because of the love of the swimming, because of the love of protecting people . . . It’s not about dollars and cents.”
The city will continue to hire lifeguards to address the shortage until July 4.
City beaches opened May 28, and city outdoor pools officially open June 28.