lifeguards

The city and union also agreed to develop a training program that would allow all 17 mini pools to open.

The Parks Department has warned repeatedly about the shortage of lifeguards this year, which they said could prompt closures or shortened hours in the coming weeks.

The pay increases are part of a greater push to encourage more lifeguards to apply. The raise does not affect New York City lifeguards.

Multiple lifeguards said a ban on swimming along stretches of Rockaway Beach was a recipe for disaster. They worried that people would venture into the water unsupervised. For some, two deaths on Friday night were seen as a grim confirmation of those fears.

The city's plan to allow "sand and recreation" access could leave rogue swimmers to fend for themselves.

Two of the lifeguards have resigned.

Below, check out a 1940's newsreel all about the lady lifeguards of Manhattan Beach, who were “swift in action, calm in mind, a godsend to a tired little body.”

Does this get filed under "Why we can't have nice things"?

Never mind that the real atrocity is that Nathan's on the boardwalk doesn't offer raw, diced onion on their hot dogs.

Remember last summer when lifeguards became the new target for water-logged