Brooklyn Borough President

BOROUGH PRESIDENT HOLDS “LIFEGUARD SUMMIT”

Group plans now to prevent beach closures next summer


Photograph by Kathryn Kirk
In photo: Tthe borough president addresses panel members and members of the community.

Borough President Marty Markowitz held a “lifeguard summit” December 14 to address issues related to training, recruitment and retention of lifeguards for Coney Island and Brighton beaches. Liam Kavanagh, Deputy Commissioner for Operations for the Parks Department, Dr. Jane Katz, former Olympian and aquatic education expert, Carl Quigley, Athletic Director for St. Francis College, and Peter Stein, President of the Lifeguard Supervisors Union brainstormed to come up with solutions to the shortage that resulted in beach closures last summer.

“Brooklyn should be growing our own lifeguards,” Borough President Markowitz said. “It may seem strange to hold a lifeguard summit in the middle of December, but January is the kick-off for lifeguard recruitment and we cannot afford a repeat of summer 2005, when beaches were cordoned off from Steeplechase Pier to Seagate during a ninety-five degree heat wave. Like me, the majority of Brooklynites summer in Brooklyn, and more people reside in Community District 13 than in the City of Miami Beach. When the beaches are closed, people don’t come, and that is the kiss of the death in the tourist trade. The stigma it creates when visitors wonder why our beaches are closed has an equally negative impact. The availability of the Atlantic Ocean for taking a dip has been driving Coney Island’s economy for well over a hundred years. Clearly, the beaches will form the foundation for Coney Island’s future. In fact, the Coney Island Master Plan is entirely predicated on maximizing our wonderful seaside access. Without the slopes, Aspen is just a subdivision. Without the beaches, Coney is … well let’s not even go there. Something is profoundly lost when we deprive our citizenry of the right to sit on the beach at the height of summer and seek refuge from the insufferable heat. The stakes are very high and we must use all available resources to ensure things are better for Coney Island this summer and for future summers.”

The group agreed to work together on short term and long term solutions to the lifeguard shortage. All agreed that to permanently solve the problem, swimming programs in city schools must be reinvigorated. In past generations, passing a swimming test was required to graduate high school in the city but that requirement was dropped. Short term solutions that were discussed include creating internships and scholarships for qualified swimmers, and stepping up efforts to recruit potential lifeguards at health clubs, youth organizations, and at schools that currently have swim teams, such as Lincoln High School near Coney Island. In addition, the borough president suggested allowing lifeguards to use prescription goggles, rather than requiring them to have perfect eyesight without glasses, and allowing them to work part time. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club, which also had a representative at the meeting, has been working to recruit applicants. The city trains qualified applicants to become lifeguards. Applicants must be at least 16 and able to swim 50 yards in 35 seconds. Applications for summer lifeguard positions can be downloaded at www.nycgovparks.com or you can call 311 to have one mailed to you.