{"id":284997,"date":"2021-06-27T01:21:11","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T22:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nyc-hit-by-lifeguard-shortage-canceling-swim-classes-teams\/"},"modified":"2021-06-27T01:21:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T22:21:11","slug":"nyc-hit-by-lifeguard-shortage-canceling-swim-classes-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nyc-hit-by-lifeguard-shortage-canceling-swim-classes-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"#NYC hit by lifeguard shortage, canceling swim classes, teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#NYC hit by lifeguard shortage, canceling swim classes, teams<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

A staffing shortage is causing some Rockaway Beach lifeguards to fly solo, creating a potentially dangerous situation, guards told The Post. <\/p>\n

Lifeguards at the city beach said the long hours on the stand alone compromise safety as they become fatigued or have to deal with multiple rescues. Some staged a protest on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were out in the water drowning, four of us (have) a lot better chance of seeing you than if I\u2019m by myself on that chair. Especially on a day like today: foggy, muggy,\u201d one lifeguard in his 10th year said Saturday.<\/p>\n

Others said they were not even allowed to take bathroom breaks, a distraction that made it harder to focus on swimmers. They said supervisors were not sympathetic.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll they do when we try to explain to them that we need help and we need the manpower is just, like, \u2018Well, you get paid for eight hours.\u2019 \u201d one guard said.<\/p>\n

The Parks Department is missing one-third of its lifeguards which also forced the cancellation of swimming lessons, water exercise classes and swim teams as pools opened for the season Saturday. <\/p>\n

The department said it \u201cexpected\u201d to have 950 lifeguards ready to go as 49 outdoor pools welcomed swimmers. Beaches already opened May 29. <\/p>\n

\"Lifeguard
Lifeguard trainers argue the pandemic has made potential guards less fit for the job.<\/figcaption>
J.C. Rice<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But that figure is 450 less than the city\u2019s full complement of 1,400 guards.<\/p>\n

Jian-Carlo Valerio, 19, a Bushwick Pool lifeguard, said there were only five guards this summer when they normally have nine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it doesn\u2019t sound like that much of a difference, but you can kind of feel it because we usually get a break,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, who was at the opening of Bushwick Pool Saturday, told The Post he was grateful to have 950 guards which would allow the city to keep parks and beaches open. He said he was unaware of the Rockaway Beach lifeguards\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n

\"The
The City Parks Department is currently operating pools with 950 lifeguards, well below its usually full force of 1,400 guards.
\n<\/figcaption>
J.C. Rice<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m not sure what the lifeguards are telling you, but we get reports everyday to make sure we have full coverage,\u201d Silver said.<\/p>\n

A department spokeswoman said the beach lifeguards get three hours of break time throughout their shifts, but she did not address the issue of guards sitting alone.<\/p>\n

The department said it was dealing with what has become a national shortage of lifeguards, a job once seen as a coveted summer stint for high school and college students that has now gone begging.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic is partly to blame, shuttering pools and some training programs last year. It also had another effect \u2014 on waistlines.<\/p>\n

\"Current
Current lifeguards are protesting harsh working conditions such as not taking restroom breaks.
\n<\/figcaption>
J.C. Rice<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA lot of people are not in the same physical shape as they used to be. We all know we got that COVID weight,\u201d said Motti Eliyahu, who runs Lifeguard Training NY with programs in New York City and on Long Island.<\/p>\n

Some would-be guards cannot pass the prerequisite test to start training \u2014 swimming 300 yards without stopping, Eliyahu said. Others may have had COVID-19 and their breathing is not the same, he said.<\/p>\n

Pandemic-related difficulties in getting visas for foreign summer workers is also adding to the scarcity of lifeguards.<\/p>\n

\"Lifeguard
Lifeguard trainers are noticing less app<\/a>licants are able to meet benchmarks like swimming 300 yards without stopping.
\n<\/figcaption>
J.C. Rice<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A staffing shortage is causing some Rockaway Beach lifeguards to protest grueling working conditions, creating a potentially dangerous situation for families, guards told The Post.<\/figcaption>
Tamara Beckwith<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The shortage is prompting private beach and pool clubs and camps to up their pay, with some offering $20 an hour or more. The city pays $16 an hour and guards work 48 hours a week.<\/p>\n

Eliyahu said he recently heard from a Brooklyn homeowner\u2019s association desperate for lifeguards and willing to pay $20 an hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would someone want to work for $16 at public pool if they could work at a pool almost nobody goes into for $20 an hour?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\"Private
Private beach and pools clubs are dealing with the lifeguard shortage by increasing wages.<\/figcaption>
J.C. Rice<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Parks Department said it was not too late to apply for the city job and it was still training new guards<\/a> and recertifying returning workers. The training takes about 40 hours.<\/p>\n

The department said the number of guards on hand \u201cwill allow us to safely operate our beaches and pools.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

If you want to read more News<\/a> articles, you can visit our News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#NYC hit by lifeguard shortage, canceling swim classes, teams” A staffing shortage is causing some Rockaway Beach lifeguards to fly solo, creating a potentially dangerous situation, guards told The Post. Lifeguards at the city beach said the long hours on the stand alone compromise safety as they become fatigued or have to deal with multiple…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":284998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/5.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[110447,99493,73032,71288,106294,76438],"class_list":["post-284997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-26-21","tag-lifeguards","tag-parks-department","tag-pools","tag-rockaway-beach","tag-swimming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}