Results tagged “rockaways”

Yesterday morning an amateur surfer died in the storm-fueled waves off the Rockaways. The NY Post reports that the 36-year-old male's leash became tangled to a jetty, where a wave had knocked him and his board — he then allegedly suffered a heart attack. Police say he was only a few feet off short when they found him at 9:25 a.m., and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. WCBS reports that surfers have been attracted to the waves Hurricane Ida is sending, but one said of the novice: "It wasn't the right day to practice for him."

Police arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with two rapes in the Rockaways last month. The Daily News reports that DNA evidence linked Malcolm Johnson to the crimes. He was charged with "rape, sexual assault, robbery, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a weapon."

While Hog Island used to be the family vacation spot for Tammany Hall politicians, after surfacing off the coast of the Rockaways in the mid-1800s, it was no match for Mother Nature. Ephemeral NY revisits the old destination spot, which "featured the usual late-19th century bathing facilities, pavilions, restaurants, and regular ferries," noting how by the late 1800s the sea swallowed it back up, whole!

A couple of days ago, NY Post columnist Cindy Adams made her opinion of the Times Square chairs be known, saying loud and clear in her headline: "It's Broadway—Not Rockaway!" She went on, saying "the hallway to the Street of Dreams is now Beach 34th Street? What's next? Sand? A boardwalk?" She's worried that the tourists will now only see "Sprawling, bused-in out-of-towners with Coke cans and brown paper bags flat out on camp chairs noshing and burping and snoozing and playing checkers in the center of the capital of the world."

Despite increasing warnings from Parks officials and a drowning death toll that continues to rise, swimmers are still finding their way into the Rockaways after lifeguards are off-duty, often into the night. The Times goes out to the Queens beaches to discover that "police officers patrol the area until 9 p.m. or so...but daring swimmers know to wait until the police leave to dive in, stepping past signs in English and Spanish warning against nighttime swimming." And one local resident tells the News, "Kids think it's just a big bathtub." City Councilman James Sanders held a community "brainstorming" session this week to discuss how to put an end to a deadly summer that has already claimed six victims, three times as many as all of last year. A Parks deputy described just how dangerous the waters can be by saying, "In certain weather conditions, particularly with a lot of south wind, the waves can create an opening in the bar. When that happens, it's like turning over a 5-gallon water cooler bottle and ripping the lid open - all the water comes rushing out." Here's a tutorial on what to do if you're caught in a rip current.

A deadly wave of drownings in the Rockaways has prompted the Parks Department to encourage heightened caution while swimming in what have been strong rip tides throughout the Queens shoreline this summer. Jose-Luis Olivares became the sixth swimmer to drown this summer while rescuing his wife and daughter; only two people died from drowning out there all of last year. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe points out that all six swimmers died at an unguarded beach or when there were no lifeguards on duty. With the first real heat wave of summer arriving this week, Parks officials called on swimmers to only go in while lifeguards are around. Benepe told the Post, "We have over 300 lifeguards and supervisors in the Rockaways. We also have 50 security personnel who patrol the beaches both before and after hours to prevent people from going into the water. There aren't many other municipalities that do that. We've sometimes been called beach Nazis."

A Queens man trying to rescue his wife and daughter became the latest victim to drown in the Rockaways this summer. 36-year-old father of two Jose-Luis Olivares of Ozone Park became the sixth person to fall prey to the rough tides along the Queens beaches, the second to die at Jacob Riis Park. Olivares went into the water after his wife and ten-year-old daughter around 7 p.m.—an hour after life guards go off-duty. An off-duty park ranger pulled Olivares out and he was airlifted to Peninsula Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Both his wife and daughter survived; it was unclear how they managed to get out of the water. The victim's brother told the Post, "We're all feeling very bad right now because he was a hero today. He saved his daughter and his wife. He is a very good father — he loves his daughter. She is devastated." Parks officials continue to search for the body of Heyward "Winky" Patterson, who was pulled in while swimming late at night on a nearby beach earlier in the week.

Authorities think a 22-year-old man may have drowned last night, in an attempt to rescue a friend. According to the NY Post, Anthony Bolden, 21, went with his sister and his friend Jacob Reid, 20, to an area of [Jacob Riis Park] near Beach 149th Street just before 8 p.m."—a time with no lifeguards on duty. Bolden's sister said, "Jacob couldn't stay up in the water. The water kept pulling him in, so Anthony went in to get him." However, Reid managed to emerge, Bolden never did; the water reportedly had "four-foot waves" and "wind speed was nine miles per hour at the time of the 911 call." The search was suspended last night around 10 p.m. but has resumed this morning. Over the weekend, a teen died after getting caught in a Rockaways riptide and the Post raised the question of lifeguards wearing iPods while on duty.

A day after a Bronx teenager drowned after getting caught in a Rockaway riptide, the Parks Department is suspending a lifeguard who was photographed wearing his iPod headphones while working at a nearby beach. Mayor Bloomberg was quick to lash out at the unnamed city employee, telling reporters, "He certainly wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing." The mayor also urged anyone on the beaches who spots something similar to call 311. Beachgoers in Rockaway told the Post headphones on the lifeguards who start out making $13.50 an hour are just the tip of the iceberg—one resident said, "Half the time, they're chatting with people. They're listening to music. They're on their cellphones. They're texting with people." The lifeguard in the photo could be fired if he has been on the job for less than a year; it'll at least be a consideration after a hearing if he's been around longer. A Parks Department spokesman said, "This is an unacceptable violation of our regulations, which is not representative of the dedication and diligence displayed by the vast majority of our over 1,300 lifeguards."

A 19-year-old man from The Bronx drowned in Far Rockaway yesterday where he and his girlfriend had been enjoying a day at the beach. 19-year-old Daniel O'Neil swam outside the designated area near the East Rockaway Inlet near Beach 25th Street around 3 p.m. Lifeguards eventually pulled O'Neil out and and FDNY EMTs took him to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, where he was pronounced dead an hour later. O'Neil had just graduated from Mount St. Michael High School and volunteered in the rectory of Sacred Heart Church in Mount Vernon. He was set to attend John Jay College in the fall and hoped to one day be a lawyer. His aunt told the News, "He was a young kid who wanted to prove to himself that he was a young man. He was full of life, full of youth." Lifeguards say that there has been a strong riptide over the last two weekends, forcing an unusually high number of swimmers to be pulled out of the water. The National Weather Service has tips here on what to do if you are caught in rip currents.

Yesterday morning, some friends were wading in the waters off Rockaway Peninsula at Beach 9th Street when one was swept up by a riptide. The Post reports, "A 35-year-old man was believed to have drowned yesterday after frantically trying to rescue a female companion who got pulled under." While an unconscious Daria Miranda, 24, surfaced in another area, Ramon Figera was missing and is assumed to have drowned. The Coast Guard told WCBS 2, "Whether they got into an area where they found themselves unable to touch bottom, or not able to swim, we're not certain." The pair, plus another friend, were in the water off the jetty around 8:15 a.m., nearly two hours before lifeguards report to duty; the Post noticed a sign next to the jetty that said, "Keep Off Jetty. No Diving." And a Far Rockaway resident told the Daily News, "The current on the bottom is very dangerous. All you have to do is go out 30 feet, and the current will grab you."

Last summer, Rice owner David Selig and chef Andrew Field opened a small seasonal shack of a restaurant way out on the A train (plus a short trip on the S shuttle). Rockaway Taco, which serves Mexican food mostly to the small community of Rockaway Beach surfers, will open for the season tomorrow through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Taco-wise, you'll have a choice of tilapia, chorizo, or tofu ($3-4); there are also snacks like fried sweet plantains ($3), chips and guac, and a few salads. This year Rockaway Taco will grow its own cilantro and jalepeño peppers, and a larger-scale rooftop garden is in the works, according to Field (who also puts time in at Roberta's and Vinegar Hill House). Rockaway Taco serves vegetables grown by Added Value, the Red Hook farm located just down the street from Selig's up-cycle retail store Waste Nought. Keeping it green, they've invested in an array of solar panels and plan to operate off-the-grid in the future. Not debuting this weekend at Rockaway Taco, but soon enough will be the Surfer's Breakfast, an array of tamales, chilaquiles, ice coffee, juices, and Mexican hot chocolate.

The Queens DA's press release gives some more details about the 18-year-old who fatally shot his cousin. Felix Cruz allegedly "pointed the firearm at her and pulled the trigger. The gun made a clicking noise and nothing happened. The defendant allegedly then pulled the trigger again, this time discharging a bullet that struck [Veronica] Cruz in the face, killing her." The Queens DA's office adds that Cruz tried to get rid of the gun by throwing it out a window. The Daily News says Cruz did take out of the magazine, but forgot about the bullet in the chamber, when "playfully pointing" the gun. Cruz, who was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and other counts, faces 15 years in prison if convicted.

Eighteen-year-old Felix Cruz was arrested and faces charges including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and evidence tampering in the death of his 18-year-old cousin in a Rockaway apartment. The victim, Veronica Cruz, who lived in Boston and had recently graduated high school, was shot in the head (Cruz used to live in Queens and was visiting her old neighborhood). Another relative told the Post, "From what I heard, it was a mistake. He was cleaning the gun or showing it off and it went off."

After recent deaths off the Rockaways and Coney Island, the NY Times look at attacks against the lifeguard union head. One chief lifeguard at Rockaway Beach, Janet Fash, said "water safety decisions" are "made in union offices by Peter Stein and the people he makes supervisors through patronage.” Fash, who claims the city doesn't meet national standards of lifeguarding, has enlisted the support of city officials, including City Councilman Oliver Koppell who said "Stein is running a program that is corrupt in choosing candidates for becoming lifeguards," but the Parks Dept. denies her charges and Stein said, “She’s entitled to her views, but I just wish she had some evidence."

This past weekend, the Coast Guard, NYPD, FDNY and other groups looked for swimmers missing off local shores but ultimately did not find any of the three people who were apparently caught in riptides. Since Friday, four other people drowned off NYC and Long Island beaches.

Newsday called yesterday a "deadly day for the Island's ocean beaches," given two people drowned and two are still missing after being dragged into the waters. Two men went missing off Jacob Riis Park in Queens; one 21-year-old was rescued by divers, bu a 23-year-old is still missing. At Long Beach, 18-year-old and 22-year-old cousins were swept out; the older cousin was rescued but later died while the younger is still missing. And 25-year-old man drowned off Southampton. The Coast Guard said "riptides were particularly strong [yesterday]," and a meteorologist told Newsday, "If you become caught in a rip current, stay calm and don't fight it. Swim parallel to the shore until you break free from the current," and when you're out, swim at an angle towards the beach, "A lot of people panic. You should float or tread water."

Yesterday, authorities, including the NYPD and Coast Guard, spent a second day searching for 16-year-old Tiara Coaxum, who went missing while swimming off Rockaway Beach on Friday. While they are resuming the search today, the rescue operation will turn into a recovery mission today. It's suspected Coaxum was caught in a riptide (the Daily News has tips on escaping a riptide), but some residents wondered to NY1 if there should be more than just two lifeguards monitoring beach activity.

After searching for hours, emergency crews were unable to find a 16-year-old missing in the waters off Rockaway Beach. Witnesses say a "big wave" knocked down two teens in the water around 3:30 p.m.; rescuers were able to rescue 16-year-old Carla Armaza, but could not find 16-year-old Tiara Coaxum. The search was suspended around 6:45 p.m., because police and Coast Guard dive teams, per the Post, "were losing light, but planned to resume the search this morning." Rockaway Park residents spoke of the dangers in the waters, "There are drop offs. The undertow is extremely severe. The rip tides are extremely severe."

The Coast Guard helped a Manhattan man whose boat had capsized in the waters near Breezy Point. But that was actually the second time he had been rescued: The Coast Guard said a Good Samaritan had helped him out of the waters, only for 45-year-old David Cherner to dive back into the water for personal items. Petty Office 2nd Class Tom Leggett said, "He wasn't wearing a lifejacket, and this could have easily taken a turn for the worse. Lifejackets should be readily accessible for situations like this because they greatly improve your chances of survival."

Police believed that 17-year-old Karon Lenihan shot another teen over a long-held grudge. Patrick Hernandez, a Far Rockaway High graduate who was headed to SUNY Cortland, had been walking back from cleaning up a local beach on Thursday morning when Lenihan allegedly jumped out of a car and shot Hernandez in the chest. While the nature of Lenihan's grudge against Hernandez is unclear, the victim's grandmother raged to the Daily News, "I'd like to kill [Lenihan] my goddamn self...My heart is destroyed. You want to fight him? Fight him fist by fist. Be a man."

An 18-year-old graduate of Far Rockaway High was fatally shot on Beach 16th Street yesterday morning. The Daily News reports Patrick Hernandez, who had played on the high school football team and was headed to SUNY Cortland this fall, "had spent the morning helping clean up a local beach and was walking home with his brother" when a shooter jumped out of a car and fired at him. The police are speaking to a suspect. His father mourned, "He was leaving these streets. We were trying to get him out of The Rock."

Yesterday, people gathered for the sixth anniversary of the fatal American Airlines Flight 587 crash in Belle Harbor, Queens. It was the second deadlist aviation crash in U.S. history, with 265 victims. Mayor Bloomberg led the ceremony, saying, "Once again, we have come together to remember all of them, and to share the sorrow that all of us feel." On November 12, 2001, the Dominican Republic-bound plane had taken off from JFK Airport; turbulent air...