There are plenty of things New Yorkers expect to see when they head out to Jacob Riis Park for a day at the beach: vendors hawking nutcrackers, topless sunbathers, those inflatable couches everyone seems to have now. Another thing you can spot at certain parts of Riis, new this summer: gray and red signs warning swimmers that there are no lifeguards on duty.
According to a representative from Gateway National Recreation Area, which falls under the purview of the National Park Service, the park tried, but failed, to hire as many lifeguards as in years past. "Gateway has tried various recruitment methods but does not have enough lifeguards to staff the same number of beaches as prior years," Daphne Yun, a public affairs officer for Gateway National Recreation Area, told Hell Gate in a statement. "A shortage of lifeguards is a nationwide concern, even outside of our public lands," she added. (The City has also struggled to hire lifeguards for its public beaches, from Orchard Beach to the Rockaways, although this year's staff count is a marked improvement from 2024.)

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