Search for resumes for 2 missing teens off Queens beach

On Saturday afternoon, authorities called off their search for two teenagers reported missing in the waters off Jacob Riis Park in Queens, a coast notorious for rip currents that kill people every year.

Authorities received reports of a possible drowning around 6:30 p.m. Friday. Officers who arrived at the scene were told that two 16- and 17-year-old teenagers were seen thrashing around in the water before disappearing from view, according to the New York Police Department.

Police, New York Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard responders, including lifeguards and divers, searched the choppy waters but found no one, police said. Responders searched more than 600 square miles between the coasts of New Jersey and Long Island, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

Kaz Daughtry, deputy police chief of operations, told news crews on the beach that witnesses said the teenagers were hit by a large wave. They tried to jump to avoid it, but the wave appeared to pull them under the water.

“There is a strong surf backwash at Rockaway that most likely caused the incident,” said Michelle Krupa, Coast Guard operations chief.

Divers suspended their search on Friday night because of “extremely, extremely strong” currents, Mr Daughtry said. A Coast Guard boat continued the search overnight. Sea and air efforts continued for much of the day on Saturday, but the Coast Guard said around 4 p.m. that it had decided to call off the search.

“The decision to stop a search is always difficult and places a heavy burden on everyone involved,” Jonathan Andrechik, commandant of the Coast Guard in New York, said in a statement.

The National Weather Service forecast a moderate risk of surf rip currents, narrow and fast-moving channels of water that flow from the beaches into the ocean, with waves of three to four feet off the beaches of Jacob Riis Park Friday. The risk is expected to increase over the weekend and reach a high risk on Sunday, when waves may reach six feet.

New York is experiencing a heat wave with temperatures reaching 95 degrees, driving some people to the beaches to cool off. Jacob Riis was open to the public as usual on Saturday.

Surf riptides are relatively common in the Rockaways on the southern edge of Queens and have repeatedly claimed the lives of beachgoers, especially young ones. Last July, a 19-year-old swimmer drowned off Jacob Riis Park after being caught in a surf riptide. The year before, two swimmers, ages 20 and 16, died on the same day off a neighboring beach in the Rockaways, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks surf riptide-related deaths.

In 2019, at least seven people died while swimming off the peninsula’s beaches. All were 25 years old or younger.

Although rip currents can occur anywhere, they are more common on certain beaches due to topography and the shape of the seafloor, according to NOAA. Breakwaters, piers and other infrastructure that extend from beaches into the water can also make rip currents more likely, said Dominic Ramunni, a meteorologist in the weather service’s New York office.

“Unfortunately, it seems that this area in the Rockaway Mountains is one of those places,” Mr. Ramunni said.

The calls Friday night came in about a half hour after the lifeguards finished their shift at 6 p.m. Many of the area’s recent drownings have occurred when lifeguards were not on duty. Swimming is prohibited in these cases, but the rule can be difficult to enforce.

New York is suffering from an ongoing shortage of lifeguards. Earlier this week, there were only 310 lifeguards on duty at the city’s beaches, but city officials say 600 are needed for the beaches to be at full capacity, according to Gothamist.

Isabella Kwai contributed to the reporting.