NYC relaxes lifeguard test as staff shortages force closures of some beach stretches

Mayor Adams announced Friday that his administration is relaxing some test requirements for lifeguards in a bid to address staff shortages in their ranks that are expected to force swaths of city beaches to stay closed this holiday weekend.

The most meaningful change rolled out by Adams is that lifeguard candidates won’t have to swim 440 yards in less than 7 minutes and 40 seconds anymore to staff a shallow water public pool, which are defined as those that are 5 feet deep or less. Rather, shallow water pool candidates will just have to prove they can swim 300 yards without a time requirement.

“These rules have prevented lifeguard hiring,” Adams said of the old shallow water pool rule, adding it “just didn’t make sense” to keep a timed swimming requirement for manning “small kiddie pools.”

Lifeguard candidates who are vying to staff a beach or a deep water public pool will still need to pass more rigorous, timed swim tests, officials said. The mayor said keeping timed requirements in place for beaches and deep water pools is about safety.

“We’re not in any way bringing down how you must be qualified to save lives,” he told reporters in a press conference at City Hall.

The mayor also announced a second reform, which will ease vision requirements so that some people using corrective lenses that previously couldn’t become lifeguards are going to become eligible. That shift won’t take effect until next year, though, meaning it’ll have no impact on lifeguard hiring for this summer.

The mayor’s announcement comes as the city’s 14 miles of public beaches are expected to officially open for swimming Saturday for the Memorial Day weekend.

But Meera Joshi, Adams’ deputy mayor for operations, said earlier this week that “some segments” of those 14 miles are going to be closed this weekend due to lifeguard staff shortages. Adams clarified at Friday’s press conference that the city has 230 lifeguards on hand going into Saturday — well short of the roughly 600 lifeguards required to fully staff all stretches of city beaches.

City Hall did not return a request for comment Friday on specifically what chunks of beach will remain shuttered as swimming season kicks off this weekend.

The Parks Department’s press office said 20 blocks of beach in the Rockaways, between Beach 106th and 126 Streets, will be closed for a non-lifeguard-related reason — to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to finish up a long-running restoration project.

Public pools won’t open until June 27, giving the city some more time to attempt to attract more lifeguards.

Parks Department Commissioner Sue Donoghue, whose staff includes the city’s lifeguards, said her agency has retained about 560 new lifeguard recruits for this season so far, some 300 of whom are currently in training. A City Hall spokeswoman said there are expected to be more lifeguards than that coming on who are already trained but need to be “recertified.”

That likely still leaves the Parks Department far short of the 1,400 lifeguards the city needs to staff all its beaches and public pools. Last summer, the city never got to that staffing level, resulting in lifeguard gaps all season.

With Michael Gartland