Andre Velasquez arrived at Rockaway Beach on Friday hoping to beat the heat with a cool swim in the ocean. Instead, he was escorted from the sand in handcuffs, accused of defying city rules prohibiting bathing when lifeguards are off duty. Read more:
Velasquez, a 33-year-old native of Briarwood, Queens, said he was wading off Beach 97th Street shortly before 7 p.m. on Friday when he saw at least half a dozen Parks Department officers calling to him from the sand.
A spokesperson for the Parks Department defended the enforcement action, calling the after-hours swim “extremely dangerous” given the lack of supervision. The city’s lifeguards leave their chairs at 6 p.m., marking the official end of legal swimming hours. Velasquez said he was placed in a police van, then driven to the nearby 100th Precinct, where he was handcuffed to a bench for close to an hour. He left with a criminal summons for disorderly conduct and failure to comply with a peace officer’s directive.
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