Do More for More Lifeguards

Dear Editor:

The summer season in NYC is relatively brief, but NYC with eight million people can’t seem to generate enough lifeguards. I have been in NYC now for 12 years, previously in Ft. Lauderdale for eight years. In Ft. Lauderdale, it is swim at your own risk after the lifeguards leave. Maybe conditions are different here, but I haven’t experienced it yet.  I can see how, maybe, city residents wouldn’t be aware of the dangers of actually being in the water if they hadn’t experienced it.

I can’t see why the city won’t up the ante for lifeguards. At the most recent event I witnessed, it took two police boats, a helicopter, at least six to eight fire trucks and three to five police cars for the event. The current procedures are not cost or life effective.

Pay the lifeguards until 8 p.m. at peak season. In the summer, the crowds are still there – after 7 p.m. Extend the protected season. You know that acceptable beach-going temperatures extend until October, cover that.

My last point – Pay them $25-$35/hr. And keep the standards high.

The costs of multiple deployments of police boats, helicopters, fire trucks, emergency personnel and police cannot possibly be more than this.  AND there would be less loss of life.

Christopher Jordan