Despite New York City parks enforcement officers hollering, whistling, and using bullhorns and a siren, surfers and swimmers could not resist the temptation of the storm-tossed waters along Rockaway Beach on Friday, defying a ban on entering the ocean because of Hurricane Dorian.
"This is what surfers live for: waves," one woman said on Rockaway Beach Boardwalk.
The National Weather Service warned of fierce rip tides and 10-foot swells because of Dorian, which was heading north, parallel to the mid-Atlantic coast Friday, after roaring across the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
In the Rockaways, thrill-seekers, who just had to test the waters, played a cat-and-mouse game with officers, some dashing into the surf east of Beach 90th Street,
which diverted parks staff,
which allowed others to make a run for it to the west,
which eventually led to reinforcements being called in, more city parks department enforcement officers, and the NYPD.
"We don’t listen to people like this. They go that way, we go that way," one man said on the beach."We don’t listen to people like this. They go that way, we go that way," one man said on the beach.
Parks officials said the conditions were just too dangerous for anyone to be in the water.
"We're concerned about people's safety, especially here at Rockaway, where, as we know, the rip tides can be pretty ferocious, even if the waves aren't huge," said Eric Peterson, an official with the parks department.
Some obliged, if only to stop the nagging.
"Why not stay in? Because who can surf with all those carts and like sirens and people beeping at you, like — you surf to enjoy the waves and relax," one man with a surfboard said on the beach. "I don't know what's the problem.""Why not stay in? Because who can surf with all those carts and like sirens and people beeping at you, like — you surf to enjoy the waves and relax," one man with a surfboard said on the beach. "I don't know what's the problem."
"Very dangerous," another man said. "So I'm happy de Blasio did a great job by calling people out."
In our time along this stretch of beach, we did not see anyone being ticketed.
After a couple of hours Friday afternoon, everyone was out of the water. But some surfers told us that they planned to return Saturday to catch the waves, even though the ban on swimming and surfing will remain in effect.
City officials told us everyone should just wait until Sunday: the ban on swimming and surfing will end, the beach will reopen, and the weather is supposed to be nice for what will be the last official day of the summer season.
