{"id":357823,"date":"2026-09-26T22:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T22:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/357823\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T22:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T22:56:09","slug":"surfers-ignore-noreaster-warnings-and-dangers-catch-high-waves-off-rockaway-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/357823\/","title":{"rendered":"Surfers ignore nor\u2019easter warnings and dangers, catch high waves off Rockaway Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

The nor\u2019easter didn\u2019t stopping several foolhardy surfers from catching some swells.<\/p>\n

As high winds and flooding ravage New York City<\/a>, roughly 20 surfers were seen braving the storms off the coast of Beach 91st Street in the Rockaways.<\/p>\n

Follow live updates on the powerful <\/a>nor\u2019easter set to bring dangerous winds, flooding to the East Coast<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite warnings to stay away from the beaches<\/a>, wave riders took to the water specifically because of the storms.<\/p>\n

Preston Head, 35, traveled from Laguna Beach, Cali., to ride the waves, but the extreme surf snapped his board in two.<\/p>\n

The waves broke Head\u2019s board in two. Brigitte Stelzer<\/p>\n

Surfers in the Ocean at Shore Front Parkway and Beach 91st Street at Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY. Brigitte Stelzer<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wave broke my surf board,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cIt was probably a 8-foot wave.\u201d<\/p>\n

The traveling surfer told The Post that he ventured across the country for the extreme waves, boasting that he \u201chad some of the best barrels that I\u2019ve ever experienced in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Locals, including 29-year-old Ron McMaster, of Queens, and 30-year-old Ryo Kuroki, of Manhattan, also came out for the roughly 12-foot waves.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is for the experts. Today is a great day to go surfing if you know what you are doing,\u201d said McMaster, who daylights as a software engineer. \u201cIt\u2019s dangerous. People die from surfing on days like this when the waves drift them into the rocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surfer Ryo Kuroki from NYC with his friend Travel Surfer Preston Head. Brigitte Stelzer<\/p>\n

Kuroki added that the waves were \u201ctwice as tall\u201d as him, and that he and McMaster \u201cknow what we are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the warnings to avoid the beaches due to the nor\u2019easter, Kuroki laughed it off, saying that \u201csurfing is a sport about rebelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul has issued multiple warnings<\/a> to stay away from the water due to \u201crip currents and high surf, making entering the ocean life-threatening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surfers in the Ocean at Shore Front Parkway and Beach 91st Street at Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY. Brigitte Stelzer<\/p>\n

\u201cA dangerous nor\u2019easter is already bearing down on the coastal areas of Long Island, New York City and Westchester County,\u201d Hochul said in a statement Saturday. \u201cThis storm poses a significant risk, and I urge New Yorkers to stay informed, stay prepared and stay safe this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surfer Bobby Gonzalez was among those forced to abort his plans at the beach because of the towering waves.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe waves are enormous,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are very difficult to even ride. You can use rip currents that pulls you out, but the waves just smash you back on the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was exhausting just trying to get out there. I just gave up,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

But Gonzalez, a part-time school aide who lives in the area, vowed to try again this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf not later today, probably tomorrow when it dies down a bit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The nor\u2019easter didn\u2019t stopping several foolhardy surfers from catching some swells. As high winds and flooding ravage New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[899,57,9,24,55,54,56,294,274,121,58],"class_list":["post-357823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-extreme-weather","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-rockaway-beach","tag-storms","tag-surfing","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}