Summer weather has arrived in New York City ahead of schedule, and the cool relief of a swim in the Atlantic Ocean is just a few days away.
Brooklyn’s beaches will officially reopen for the season on Saturday, May 23 at 10 a.m., just in time for Memorial Day weekend. Lifeguards will be in their chairs from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. every day until Sept. 13, a week after Labor Day.
During a visit to Coney Island on Tuesday, Parks department commissioner Tricia Shimamura said she was “so excited” to welcome New Yorkers back to the shore.
“My first real core New York City memories were here on this beach,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you are a new New Yorker, a native New Yorker from Brighton Beach, or somewhere in between, you know Coney Island because it is both an icon of New York but also your hometown beach.”
Parks commish Tricia Shimamura (right) said she was excited to welcome New Yorkers back to the beach. Photo by Erica Price
The beach is the last part of Coney Island to open for the season. Its iconic amusement parks, Luna Park and Deno’s Wonder Wheel, opened back in March, and the first pitch was thrown at Maimonides Park in early April.
But the People’s Playground thrives in the summer, as thousands of New Yorkers flock to the shores for some fun in the sun.
The Atlantic Ocean is “the biggest air conditioner in the world,” joked Brooklyn Borough Parks commissioner Marty Maher, and Coney Island has something for everyone.
“Our beaches are an incredible public resource where New Yorkers can find relief in the hottest of summer months,” Shimamura said. “Let me just say, it’s going to be 90 [degrees] today and it’s only going to get hotter, and this is where you find relief.”
New York City’s public beaches offer a free, easy way for locals to cool off and enjoy a getaway without traveling far from home. Photo by Erica Price
After days of abnormally scorching temperatures this week, Memorial Day weekend is slated to be cool and rainy in New York City, according to the National Weather Service. But forecasters are predicting a hotter-than-average summer for much of the U.S., including New York.
In recent years, ongoing lifeguard shortages have sometimes forced the city to close sections of beach temporarily — or, in some cases, for weeks at a time. The situation improved somewhat last year, after the city struck a new contract with the lifeguards’ union and ramped up recruitment efforts.
A parks department spokesperson said there were more than 1,000 lifeguards staffing New York City beaches and pools last year, the highest number since 2019. Recruits were up 23% from the year before.
The exact number of lifeguards working at New York City beaches and pools is not yet finalized, but the shortage appears to have eased somewhat. Photo by Erica Price
Though things appear promising for 2026, the department will continue to certify lifeguards until July, so it’s not yet clear just how many will man the water this summer. New York City public pools don’t open until June 27, more than a month after the beaches.
Shimamura also debuted new UTVs “purpose-made” for lifeguards to drive themselves and their equipment across the sand.
“We’re actually creating something that really serves our lifeguards, it’s meant to be driven on the beach and to be responding to emergency situations,” she said. “We’re really talking about saving lives.”
The commish thanked newly-minted Coney Island Council Member Kayla Santosuosso for her advocacy and support for funding parks.
One of the department’s new UTVs, meant to transport lifeguards (and their gear) across the sand. Photo by Erica Price
Santosuosso, who has been in office since January said she considers Coney Island “The People’s Beach … on this side of town,” taking a slight dig at New York City’s other iconic shore, Riis Beach.
“This is where people from all across Brooklyn and all across the city and families, specifically, come to enjoy our coastline, our beach,” she said.
Aside from lifeguards, Coney Island is packed with roving parks department workers, Shimamura said. She recalled making a late-night, weekday visit to Coney Island a few years ago, expecting the beach to be empty.
Instead, she said, it was packed with people walking, playing, holding snakes and doing magic tricks.
City officials turned on the water at the spray shower. Photo by Erica Price 
Beachgoers cooled off at the beach on an unseasonably warm May afternoon. Photo by Erica Price
“The real safety I felt came from seeing our [parks enforcement] officers, it came from seeing our PD, FDNY, EMTs there,” she said. “Everybody was there doing the things that they need to do. Coney Island is the only place where we have a 24 hour operation. That means no matter what time you come to this beach, you will see Parkies out doing the jobs that they need to do.”
Though Coney Island is Brooklyn’s most famous beach — and arguably one of the most famous beaches in the world — the borough has much more to offer.
A short walk down the sand is the quieter, less-touristy Brighton Beach. And at the end of the peninsula is the small, family-focused Manhattan Beach, which offers picnic tables and grills as well as a peaceful place to swim and sunbathe.