A new generation of young people are jumping from Steeplechase Pier at Coney Island despite the risk to life and limb. A 14 - year-old boy was injured on June 14th according to law enforcement sources. A Parks Department spokeswoman misrepresented to the Daily News that there were two seasonal workers posted at the pier every day during the summer to prevent this activity. Compounding the problem is that after the lifeguards go home whatever seasonal workers there are needed to clear people out of the water and watch over the closed bays. There is not a single PEP officer assigned to cover any of Brooklyn's beaches.
"When we are there they don't listen to us," said a seasonal worker wearing a Parks Department security shirt. "They know we have no arresting power." (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge
Divers fly off Steeplechase Pier in Brooklyn. The famed pier made headlines in 1992, when Staten Island brothers John and Virgil Brown jumped off, broke their necks and became paralyzed for life. The brothers sued the city and won more than $100 million - lowered to $25 million on appeal - in one of the largest settlements in the history of the Parks Department. They argued "No diving" signs were not posted at the pier. Although these signs are posted now, there is no one to enforce it. A few people also noted the signs say nothing about jumping.
Brooklyn
Thrill-seeking kids are risking their lives by turning a dangerous Coney Island pier into a diving board - and there's no one there to stop them, according to the New York Daily News.
Steeplechase Pier is attracting daredevils who dive with abandon because budget cuts have slashed the number of Parks Department enforcement agents, union officials say.
"It's fun. It's not a crime," said Billy Rafti, 13, who dives off the pier into the ocean a few times a week and has never been busted.
"They don't care if we jump."
The famed pier made headlines in 1992, when Staten Island brothers John and Virgil Brown jumped off, broke their necks and became paralyzed for life.
The brothers sued the city and won more than $100 million - lowered to $25 million on appeal - by arguing "No diving" signs were not posted at the pier.
"If someone could've shown me what would happen, I wouldn't have done what I did," said Virgil Brown, 47, who now uses a wheelchair.
"You can ignore a sign. ... The city should put a guard on the pier."
Today, there are clear signs warning against diving or swimming from the pier, which is about 5 feet above the water.
Still, as the long Fourth of July weekend approached, dozens of kids lined up and took turns doing flips, spins and belly flops into the 20-foot-deep sea.
"It's almost like the Cyclone attraction itself," said Joe Puleo, vice president of Local 983, which represents Parks Enforcement Patrol officers, who can write the jumpers tickets.
"The kids get on line, they're jumping off two, three, four at a time, and they're coming in droves."
Puleo said there are two Parks Enforcement Patrol officers for all of Brooklyn's parks and beaches - down from 10 in 2008.
"The solution is more enforcement, more education, more signage - and the Parks Department is not doing its job adequately monitoring and notifying the public," he said.
A Parks Department spokeswoman said there are two seasonal workers posted at the pier every day during the summer, and they can alert cops.
She also insisted all 38 Parks Department beach employees - including lifeguards, seasonal workers and Parks Enforcement Patrol agents - can warn kids off the pier.
When the Daily News visited the pier last week, there were no workers standing guard.
"It's so fun to do tricks off of it," said Coney Island resident Orlay Peralta, 16. "[City workers] say they're going to stop us, but if you just pass them, they're not."
An NYPD spokeswoman couldn't say how many summonses officers have issued for diving off the pier since the beach opened in May.
"We do assist enforcing the law, but it's the Parks Department's responsibility," she said.
Today's front page Daily News story covering the issue.
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I love how the NYPD spokeswoman takes the position that it is the PEP's responsibility to enforce the law, see, they only assist. Pretty funny.
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