NYC officials unveiled a summer safety plan aimed at keeping locals safe “via land, air, and sea,” with city beaches officially opening Saturday for Memorial Day weekend.
“We want all New Yorkers to enjoy summer in the greatest city in the world — and we want to make sure that everyone is safe and protected whether they are in the sun, on the beach, on the streets, at home, or at work,” Mayor Adams said.
The plan entails the expansion of beach and water patrols, public safety and quality of life improvement, heat emergency planning, impaired driving and traffic enforcement and expanded programming for young New Yorkers.
Adams outlined an multiagency effort to monitor the city’s 14 miles of beaches using drones which will search for swimmers in distress and shark activity — a strategy utilized last summer. In emergencies, some drones are able to drop rafts to drowning swimmers.
The NYPD and FDNY plan to increase deployment of their boats to conduct waterside patrols, with a focus on beaches within the New York Harbor, officials said.
By peak summer season the city will staff even more certified lifeguards, surpassing the 930 staffed last year, according to city Deputy Commisioner of Parks Iris Rodriguez-Rosa.
Last summer a total of seven New Yorkers drowned along the coasts, the highest number since 2019.
As for tamping down crime, which historically spikes during the city’s hottest months, officials said the NYPD has identified 70 “summer deployment zones” where more than 1,500 additional officers will be assigned to patrol in the evenings and nights when violence tends to erupt.
“Crime has been down for seven straight months, and our summer safety plan will build on those successes — flooding our new summer zones with the largest deployment of cops on patrol ever and continuing to address the quality-of-life issues plaguing communities,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “This is a citywide effort to reduce violence, strengthen enforcement, and ensure every New Yorker feels safe in the months ahead.”
The zones, which see the highest rates of crime in the city, have already had additional officers deployed since May 5. Since then major crime in these zones are down 23%, Tisch said.
The NYPD’s newly formed Quality of Life Division will also be doubling down on noise complaints, parking violations and other community complaints.
“I tell people all the time, if you cannot play loud music, drink, and have your car double-parked outside Gracie Mansion, you shouldn’t be able to do it on Gun Hill Road,” Adams said. “The quality of life I expect, you should expect.”
Officers will also be deployed on highways and local streets, with a focus on getting impaired drivers off city streets, while the Department of Transportation increases their anti-impaired driving messaging campaigns.
In preparation for the dog days of summer, the city’s emergency management office is expanding their signature ‘Beat the Heat’ campaign to keep locals safe from extreme heat. More than 500 people die in the city from heat-related causes every year.
The campaign will “make it easier for people to find air-conditioned places across the city, including libraries, older adult centers, museums, and more,” NYCEM Commissioner Zach Iscol said in a statement.
Adams also announced the expansion of the city’s Saturday Night Lights initiative, with nearly 140 sports sites operating on Saturdays and Sundays. The expanded programming is meant to serve as an “upstream solution” for gun violence.
“We are committed to ensuring that our community and vulnerable populations have safe spaces for engaging in activities like playing sports, dancing, participating in music, arts, and other enrichment programs,” said New York City Department of Youth & Community Development Commissioner Keith Howard.
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