Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Investments to Keep New Yorkers Safe in the Water Through NY SWIMS Initiative

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced investments to keep New Yorkers safe in the water through the New York State Wide Investment in Municipal Swimming initiative. Recognizing that drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4 and that climate change will increase extreme heat events, Governor Hochul secured measures in the FY 2025 Enacted Budget and launched other initiatives for NY SWIMS to build out municipal pools in high-need areas, connect New Yorkers to the State’s rivers and lakes, address the lifeguard shortage, and invest in State parks and pools. At Jones Beach State Park today, Governor Hochul celebrated progress on several components of the NY SWIMS initiative as well as additional measures to monitor for sharks at State Parks on Long Island this summer.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

What a wonderful day at historic Jones Beach. You can feel summer in the air, right? Just makes you want to play hooky for the rest of the day. And I know so many New Yorkers are looking forward to this summer. We have Memorial Day, the unofficial launch of summer. And I know lots of New Yorkers are planning on enjoying our lakes, our rivers, and of course our glorious beaches.

And that's why I want to talk about something that we unveiled at our State of the State address. Which is our investment in a program we're calling New York SWIMS. And we're talking about $150 million dollars to implement this program.

We want to make sure New Yorkers have access to swimming opportunities that are safe on the water. For people who live near the water, who want to go vacation with their families, or just take a dip to cool off on a hot day. And I want to thank so many people who have made this a priority.

Our great Senator Monica Martinez, thank you for being a champion on this. Stew Leonard, President and CEO of Stew Leonard's and the founder of the Water Safety Foundation. Stew, thank you. Stand up Stew, thank you very much.

This is an individual who had the strength to turn his son's tragedy into a never again moment for others. And I want to thank him for channeling that pain into something positive for others. Thank you, Stew. Thank you very much.

Bobby Hazen, the co-founder of the New York Water Safety Coalition. Bobby, stand up please.

And we're going to be hearing from Jordan Fingo, Long Island College student and a certified lifeguard. Jordan, want to take a bow?

Proud to have members of my administration. Jeanette Moy, the Commissioner of Office of General Services, who is the keeper of all these beautiful buildings for us. Randy Simon, our Acting Commissioner of New York State Parks. And of course, our host today, Chip Gorman, Long Island Regional Director of State Parks. Chip is clearly more popular than any of us.

But New York bodies of water are some of our most lively places. And you think about Long Island's pristine beaches like this one — all the way we go to places like Brooklyn. We can go to the parks there, the pools there — all the way up to the Finger Lakes, and the North Country, and Western New York. When you think about it, these are sanctuaries that foster community, physical fitness, relaxation and fun.

And more often than not in the summertime they're a refuge from the scorching heat, and places for others to gather. But if you do not know how to swim, this refuge can become a death trap in an instant. Drownings in the State of New York have reached record highs in recent years, claiming over 230 lives in 2021, our most recent year alone.

That's one year. Children are particularly vulnerable. Drownings are the leading cause of death for one to four-year-olds across the country, and the second leading cause of death for five to fourteen-year-olds. It's every parent's nightmare.

And the pain is not shared equally among our population. It's the low-income communities of color often that have suffered decades of disinvestment in swimming facilities. Dwindling options for free or low-cost swimming lessons, and in return they are at a disproportionately high rate of drownings. Black Americans are 1.5 times more likely to drown, and black children drown at three times the rate of other children.

These numbers are shocking. And behind every tragedy is a heartbroken family, siblings, parents, grandparents. And to make matters worse, as we're realizing that we need to get more people trained in how to swim and feel comfortable — we’re contending with a national lifeguard shortage — and municipalities; counties, state, localities are all struggling to recruit instructors.

That means fewer swimming lessons, and even less programming than before. But as I've said, my number one job is to keep New Yorkers safe. And that's why this budget, this year's budget negotiated with our friends in the legislature, the Assembly and the Senate, we have made swimming a priority. Last year, we gave state lifeguards a 34 percent pay increase for recruiting them and keeping them.

This year, we're deploying $5 million dollars to reimburse municipalities that want to hire lifeguards and additional swim instructors. And our Budget also includes $150 million in grants to help underserved communities build or improve swimming facilities. So, applications for the first round — up to $90 million, close on July 12th.

So, get busy and get your applications in. We look forward to seeing those and reviewing them. We're also going to have free sunscreen at State Pools — the parks and State Park pools — including this one. And if you haven’t thought about this at all, you can make sure you can protect yourself from your sunburn.

I don't want to see sunburns. I've burned enough. I have Irish skin; I burn like crazy. So, get the suntan lotion out there. But we also have some very exciting announcements to make that impact Jones Beach in particular. And first of all, let's start at the basics — I just interviewed one of our captains of the lifeguards who's been here 29 years.

And I said, “So what's up with the sharks?” I'm always curious. I'm pretty direct. So, she says “Well, they live here too. They're more afraid of us than we are of them.” So, we had a little conversation about the rights of sharks. I get it. And we want to make sure that — although we feel safe and secure, or else we wouldn't open this park — that we feel very secure. We want to do something to take a bite out of any potential shark attack. So, once again, we're deploying the drones. I was able to launch one off the back of one of our boats last year and see how it worked. And it's sending real time images of the water to our lifeguards. What a great idea that is.

We'll be adding five more to our existing fleet of 17, bringing the total to 22. We're also going to be training 11 additional pilots. So, by this summer, we'll have over 40 people trained in how to deploy the drones. So, they'll help the park's employees spot the sharks so we can avoid any problems.

And the park police will be getting a bigger drone with thermal imaging, laser range finding, and the ability to fly in bad weather and drop flotation device. So, we are using technology. So, we can coexist, but we're always going to be watching. We're keeping an eye out there what's going on in the water.

So lastly — this is the big news — I'm proud to announce, and we're going to make a big splash here, we're investing $100 million from our capital budget project this year to revitalize and transform the abandoned Jones Beach East Bathhouse. Let's get that done. This is the last — yeah, that's a big number — this is the last major piece of infrastructure at Jones Beach that hasn't been upgraded since the pool complex was shut down in 2008 because of the financial crisis.

So, this is an incredible opportunity for New Yorkers to enjoy the water safely because we know how popular it is here. We know that this is the second most visited State Park in New York. Second only to Niagara Falls, which I encourage all you to visit as well. Last year, 8.6 million people came here. Almost 50 percent from New York City, 42 percent come multiple times each week and 50 percent have been coming for more than 20 years. I think that's incredible. This is a place where families connect, memories are created, and so — this becomes generational for individuals who love and cherish what we have here, this incredible asset. And this is a place for everyone.

And this new East Bathhouse will provide a place for children to get comfortable around the water. And it's going to have splash pads — which I absolutely love — a learn to swim pool and a playground. We've got a beautiful rendering over here. We can take a look at this. It looks like a lot of fun. This is the before.

Say goodbye to that, hopefully. And look how much fun this is going to be. I'm looking forward to this very much. So, this is going to be a lot of fun. So, it's going to help new generations learn to swim. And I can't think of any better way than to celebrate Jones Beach’s 95th anniversary than this announcement.

Let's give that a round of applause. Bring your friends, enjoy the beach, and I hope everyone has a spectacular, safe, and fun Memorial Day leading into an amazing summer. So, thank you very much. Thank you.