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NYC set to offer free swimming lessons to 2nd graders
By
Sophia Chang
Published Sep 13, 2023
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By
Sophia Chang
Published Sep 13, 2023
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New York City will be required to offer free swimming lessons to second-graders in public schools under a bill that lawmakers expect to see passed on Thursday.
The legislation mandates that the city's parks department and school system develop a swim program for kids. It aims to help save lives in a city surrounded by water, said Councilmember Julie Menin, who sponsored the bill.
“Learning how to swim should be as common as learning how to read, how to ride a bike, how to write,” Menin said, pointing to city data that shows 58 people have drowned at the city’s pools and beaches since 2008.
Councilmembers said they have enough votes to pass the measure with a veto-proof majority.
A spate of drownings took place around the city this summer. In July, a 14-year-old boy and a 19-year-old boy both drowned in the Rockaways. A 15-year-old boy also drowned in the waters off Coney Island.
City officials estimate that a quarter of New York City kids don’t know how to swim, according to a 2017 Department of Health survey. The gap widens among Black, Hispanic and Asian kids, who are less likely to know how to swim compared to their white peers.
It’s not yet clear how much the free swimming lessons — which are optional — will cost the city, Menin said. But the legislation does include limitations on its impact, stipulating that classes will be subject to available funding, staffing and pool space.
Menin suggested the city offer the lessons at pools at college campuses and YMCA locations, in addition to the 12 indoor and 53 outdoor pools run by the parks department. She said the policy could be put in place as soon as next school year.
The parks department offers a Learn to Swim program that has taught around 6,000 kids this year, Menin said – but the new policy could reach 70,000 second-graders each year.
Under former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, the city also launched an optional swim program for second-graders that’s since expired, said Adrian Benepe, the parks commissioner at the time.
“If New York does this, many more cities will follow suit and many more lives will be saved,” Benepe said, calling the legislation “fabulous, heartening news.”
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new york city
Politics
parks
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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