By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
With last week's drowning of Lavell Patrick a 15-year-old teen from Rosedale many beachgoers wondered if more could be done to prevent the tragedies in the water.
With Memorial Day weekend, the City of Long Beach opened the Ocean Beach Park during the weekends only until the end of the school year on June 26, at which time the Ocean Beach Park officially opened seven days a week.
But even in the days immediately after Patrick's drowning, posted signs and empty lifeguard chairs hadn't prevented beachgoers especially out-of-towners from dipping their toes into the ocean when no guards were on duty.
Generally, people from the local community know when no lifeguards are on duty, chief of lifeguards Stephen Kohut said. They don't go into the water.
But last Friday, two Levittown residents walked past the Spanish/English signs that warned of no lifeguards on duty without so much as a glance and onto the beach. Neither one was aware that the beach was closed.
We didn't notice the signs, 21-year-old Phil Lipari said. We don't usually come here, added his 19-year old friend Laura Satriano.
While the signs are there at the beach entrance, for many people they are pretty easy to miss. Former police special officer Phillip Matthews of Queens, who happened to be enjoying the beach on Friday, said that people never pay attention to the signs. They just come here to have fun.
But a scene on Friday, June 21 just two days after Patrick drowned on Monroe Boulevard warranted the concerns for residents and non-residents that the signs, alone, don't really get the job done.
North shore residents Marcia Schulman and her brother-in-law, Mark, took her five children to Monroe Beach. While the Schulmans set their blankets close to the empty lifeguard stand, Josh, 13, and Adina, 10, were off swimming next to the jetties. Their siblings, Cari, 13, Jacob, 12 and Tamara, 8, were actually playing on the jetties. All five children were right in the area where Patrick had drowned two days before.
When she learned of the potential danger her children were in, Marcia Schulman shouted for the children to get out of the water immediately and to get off the rocks.
I didn't know the jetties were dangerous, she said. I thought the lifeguards would be here today. We didn't know, we didn't notice the beach was closed.
But asked if she read the signs, she replied, I didn't notice the signs, I don't think anyone has. They should make them bigger.
While she knew of the recent drowning from the news, she didn't know where it happened or why. And like most parents, she figured if there was a problem, she would run out and help.
Are signs enough?
There are beach-closed signs at every beach entrance, Kohut said. As for making the signs larger he said, They are as large as they can possibly be. We advertised that the beach is closed.
While closing each beach entrance by posting special police officers or blocking the entrance could solve the problem, Kohut said, that's just not an option.
We can close the beach and not let anyone in but the city doesn't want that and we don't want to do that, he said.
Still, Long Beach resident Fran Weitzman said she doesn't feel that a sign is a deterrent. They ignore the signs. Many people who come to the beach, she said, don't pay attention to them.
One veteran Long Beach lifeguard, who declined to give his name, said 99 out of 100 times, people who drown are from out-of-town.
The locals don't drown, he said. They know better. People know the water, they respect it. It makes them more cautious.
While there are signs posted at each entrance with the beach's rules and regulations, none of the signs, however, say to stay off or away from the jetties. One former Long Beach resident, who also declined to give his name, said when he thinks of the jetties he thinks, they're death.
It's hard to constantly keep people off the jetties, Kohut said. In the past, signs were posted to keep off, but people still ignored them.
When the lifeguards are on duty, we spend half the time getting them off, he said. There is no way of keeping them off. [The jetties] are like a magnate.
Extending lifeguard hours
Meanwhile, Patrick's drowning has sparked concern amongst Long Beach residents and non-residents. Opening the beach earlier in the season and extending beach hours were on the top of the list.
Born and raised in Long Beach, Lillian Rabin believes the lifeguards should stay until dark, and Weitzman added, especially on the weekends, they should be here later.
Both residents said that extending the hours would help, but they also admitted that people will come later.
And extending the beach's hours isn't that easy, Kohut said. While he wouldn't mind staying on the beach longer, he said, the city council and the City Charter set the hours.
People have to respect our hours, not theirs, Kohut said. These are our hours. We close at 6 p.m. We blow the whistle and everybody is out of the water. People have a problem understanding that. This is a beach, our hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
After six, the signs are up, Kohut said. The beach is closed, the chairs are empty, there are no lifeguards on duty. There is nothing more, that I'm concerned, that we can do.
We do everything possible to protect the public, he added.
Opening the beach a few weeks earlier just isn't feasible, Kohut said, for two reasons. First, he said, the vast majority of lifeguards are still in high school. Asking a student to work a day before a Regents or final exam isn't fair. Second, he added, they cannot open some beaches and not all of them. Liability becomes an issue. What if someone drowns on a beach with no lifeguard?
There are 23 bathing areas, Kohut said, and each stand must have at least two lifeguards, according to the Nassau County Department of Health. Kohut, though, believes three is safer and staffs the beaches with three guards. About 100 guards are on staff, which includes the EMTs.
But lifeguards aren't the only ones who must be available during the pre-season hours, officials said. Ocean Beach Park employees ticket takers, cashiers and supervisors must also be available. There are nearly 200 employees of the Ocean Beach Park alone, a city official said.
The cost to keep the beach open for one season is hefty. According to the city budget, it costs the city an estimated $1.7 million to open the beach for one summer. Costs for each division are as follows: the Ocean Beach Park costs $312,416; lifeguards and EMTs costs $894,318; and an estimated $500,000 is used for beach maintenance, an official said.
Last year, the Ocean Beach Park generated $1,526,489 in revenue from daily and seasonal beach pass sales, the city reported, as well as another estimated $200,00 from the Long Island Rail Road through its discounted rate on daily passes sold at Penn Station.
While the possibility of opening the beach early is not an easy one, Mark Schulman believes there are enough people on the beach in June to warrant opening the beach a few weeks early. No lifeguards, he said as he stared at the empty stand, it doesn't make sense.
It's crazy. Look how many people are at the beach especially on Monday through Friday. A lot of kids. They should have lifeguards, Schulman added.
But Kohut had a different take on the idea. I don't think it's incumbent on the city to provide protection 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people who choose to ignore the signs and go into the water anyway.
