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Man Summonsed For Swim To Roosevelt Island
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 24, 2010
Modified Aug 24, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 24, 2010
Modified Aug 24, 2010
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Sometime this past Sunday a man reportedly took to the waters and swam from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island and back... successfully! Well, sort of. He was handed two summons for his East River swim. The Roosevelt Island blog refers to RI's public safety report from that day (which was quite rainy and windy), it states, "Investigation/ Reckless Endangerment—A male swam from the FDR straight across to Roosevelt Island. NYPD/ESU, and PSD responded. Male was fine. EMS refused. NYPD issued subject two summonses."
The swim isn't recommended—the current in the East River is strong (video), plus, who knows what's in there. And it seems like someone had plenty of reasons not to try it; a commenter on the RI blog with the handle "swimmer" posted more details from Sunday, saying, "It took 15 minutes with fins. It had to be planned carefully with due attention to the tides because crossing when the currents are running would indeed be difficult and dangerous. That said it should not be done for two reasons: it is difficult to time it so as to avoid boat traffic in the small window of high tide; and more importantly, someone will call 911 and set in motion a 'rescue' that will consume the time and resources of the NYC police and RI Public Safety, even on an overcast weekend day in the early morning."
Luckily, the swimmer wasn't injured during his adventure... but the time and resources of the NYPD were still utilized.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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