De Blasio says New York City beaches will open for swimming on July 1
The Big Apple’s eight public beaches will open for swimming starting July 1, Mayor Bill de Blasio officially announced Wednesday as he detailed his “Get Cool NYC” plan for the summer.
“Lifeguards ready to go, training is being competed,” de Blasio said during his daily City Hall press briefing. “It’ll be a great day for New York City — another part of our comeback to have our beaches up again.
“We were able to make this announcement today because of you — because of all you did to fight through the coronavirus,” de Blasio said, noting that social distancing should still be practiced.
The city’s 14 miles of beaches — which includes Orchard Beach in the Bronx; Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn; Rockaway Beach in Queens; and Midland Beach, South Beach, Cedar Grove Beach and Wolfe’s Pond Park Beach on Staten Island — have been open to sun worshippers, but due to coronavirus restrictions, swimming had been barred.
Lifeguards will be on duty daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and city Parks Department ambassadors will continue to staff the beaches, hand out face masks and educate visitors about social distancing.
If certain sections of the beach get too crowded, sunbathers will be directed to less crowded areas, according to the mayor’s office.
Hizzoner told reporters that he “certainly” plans on visiting a city beach, but he’s not sure whether he will “take a dip” in the waters.
Meanwhile, de Blasio announced a plan to provide cooling relief to the Big Apple’s most “heat burdened” neighborhoods as well.
The city will soon reopen 950 existing cooling elements like sprinklers, spray showers and misting stations and 250 new cooling sites within the “next few weeks,” de Blasio said.
During extra hot days, the FDNY and the city’s Department of Environmental Protection will install up to 320 additional spray caps on fire hydrants.
“We’ll be focusing all of this on the neighborhoods hardest hit by the disease” like Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and Highbridge in The Bronx, said the mayor.
De Blasio also announced that the city will allow private camps to use space in parks across the five boroughs this summer.
The city Parks Department and the Department of Health are currently reviewing more than 350 applications for camp permits.
And de Blasio added 23 new miles of pedestrian-friendly streets that will be closed to vehicle traffic across all five boroughs Wednesday, bringing the program to a total of 67 miles.
“It’ll be the most operational Open Streets in the nation,” de Blasio said, adding that it will help New Yorkers get some fresh air and exercise amidst the coronavirus pandemic.