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Teen drowns at Rockaway Beach after lifeguards clear their shifts for the day
By
Liam Quigley
Published Aug 11, 2026
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Noam Galai/Getty Images
By
Liam Quigley
Published Aug 11, 2026
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A teenager drowned at Rockaway Beach on Sunday night more than an hour after lifeguards cleared their chairs for the day, parks department officials said.
Lifeguards and medics rushed into the water near Beach 84th Street around 7:30 p.m. after being alerted to a pair of teens in distress along the shoreline, according to authorities.
Rescuers pulled both young men, aged 17 and 18, out of the water roughly a block apart. The younger teen was not breathing and unconscious when medics rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
Lifeguards had finished work at 6 p.m. but remained at their station houses nearby because the city’s heat emergency plan was active on Sunday.
Local Councilmember Joann Ariola said that officials were not releasing the name of the 17-year-old who drowned.
“Despite the heroic actions of first responders — actions which saved the life of another individual with him in the water — a young man lost his life,” she wrote in a statement.
The death was the second drowning at Rockaway Beach this year. An 18-year-old man died in the peninsula’s waters in May, before the beach opened for the season.
Seven people drowned at city beaches each of the last two summers, according to data reviewed by Gothamist. Lifeguards were not on duty during a majority of those incidents.
Parks officials said that swimmers should only enter the water from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. when lifeguards are monitoring the shore from their chairs.
“We’re saddened by this tragic loss of life and our hearts go out to the victim's family and friends,” parks department spokesperson Gregg McQueen wrote in a statement.
City beaches are open for swimming through Sept. 13.
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Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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