They're fast, furious, they're loud, they're dirty -- a threat to the environment, a menace to wildlife, and, increasingly, a danger to human beings.
That is how more and more people are seeing personal watercraft.
"Call them Jet Skis, Waverunners, Sea Doos, Waterbikes or Water Scooters, they're all personal watercraft," according to the website of the Personal Watercraft Industry Association.
Kawasaki introduced the Jet Ski, the first commercially successful personal watercraft (or PWC) in 1974. There are now more than a million in the United States, manufactured mostly by five companies. And they are increasingly under attack.
Responding to the complaints, many federal, state and local authorities are taking action. The National Park Service banned them from most of its parks this spring, And now, right before Labor Day, Governor George E. Pataki signed a law that will allow local governments to decide whether or not to ban personal watercraft on New York's waterways.
It might be difficult for the landlocked to understand how so much outrage, condemnation and government regulation could be directed at something that's supposed to be fun.
But the statistics provide the answer: In 1993, there were 26 deaths throughout the nation connected to these watercraft according to a 1998 report from the National Transportation Safety Board. By 1997, the number of annual deaths had increased to 83. Unlike other pleasure craft, these deaths were not caused primarily by drowning, but by "blunt force trauma" - collisions, accidents. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the rate of injuries connected to personal watercraft was 8.5 times higher than the rate of injuries from motorboats
In New York State, while these craft comprise less than ten percent of the state's registered boats, they are involved in nearly 30 percent of all accidents, according to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Prserveation.
"Controlling jet-skiers is one of our biggest safety concerns," says Emilio Velazquez, of the New York State Parks Police, which operates in city waters. In the last year, over 300 citations were given to recreational users, mostly powerboats. Over a third went to jet-skiers. The charges were as minor as inadequate markings, but also included operating too close to other vessels, or too close to swimmers.
A recent scan of local water-oriented list serves detail clashes. A kayaker wrote of being "buzzed" off Liberty State Park by a four-person Jet Ski. The kayaker called for more enforcement and prosecution. While highly stable in general, kayaks can be easily swamped by the wake given off by the powerful motors of personal watercraft. According to list serve writers, along Brighton Beach and Coney Island, jet skiers "pass the white markers, at least once a day - weaving among the swimmers".
Recognizing that recreational user conflict is partly a matter of education, city and state agencies have introduced mandatory courses in water safety aimed at new or young power watercraft users. Eventually, all users will fall under the new regulations that will be phased in by 2004.
The personal watercraft industry agrees with the need for education, regulation and enforcement, as do advocates of diverse recreation. Shared use of the water's refuge only works if all users obey the rules. To obey the rules, one must know the rules. The rules ought to reflect today's shoreline scene, a place of peace, refuge and fun for swimmers, paddlers, sailors, fishermen, pedestrians - and powerboats too, when they respect the rights of others less powerful.
Peter B. Fleischer, currently writing a book on the New York City waterfront, was formerly a transportation and environment policy advisor to New York City Mayors David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani.
There was a time when a hot-dog vendor working on the beach at Coney Island could sell 250,000 hot dogs in one day.
That, at least, is what one of them told Sergey Fedorovskiy recently. Fedorovskiy is a lifeguard at Manhattan Beach for the summer and a student in computer science at Staten Island College the rest of the year. On a recent Friday, the small beach next to Fedorovskiy's chair had maybe 50 people spread out on blankets and beach chairs. Only a dozen or so were getting wet. Few were eating hot dogs.
So far this summer six million people have set foot on one of the city's seven beaches3Orchard Beach in the Bronx, Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, the Rockaways in Queens, South Beach, Midland Beach and Wolfe's Pond in Staten Island. But last summer the attendance was much higher, approximately 10 million by the end of August, according to the New York City Department of Parks.
For the three years that he has been a lifeguard, Fedorovskiy has noticed the number of beach-goers dwindling.
"It could be the ecology," he speculates. "The water's not that clean. Or maybe it's the neighborhood or the maintenance of the beach."
A few years ago, needles were washing up on the city's shores, millions of gallons of sewage regularly colored the waters and popular beaches were declared off-limits to swimmers. How safe is it today to swim at New York City beaches? How clean is the water? A lifeguard shortage was announced at the beginning of the season. Did it affect the safety of the beaches? And is the West Nile virus discouraging people from getting into their swimsuits?
WOES OF A SINGLE SYSTEM:
It rained heavily this summer and heavy rains can mean sewage run-off into our beaches. New York City's sewage pipes are combined with stormwater runoff pipes in a single system. In the event of heavy rains, the additional rainwater can cause run-off of untreated sewage into the city waterways.
A report released last week by the Natural Resources Defense Council, "Testing the Waters, 2000: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches" faulted New York City for not making greater efforts to inform the public about combined sewage runoff and its relation to heavy rainfall
Brooklyn and Bronx beaches are tested weekly by the New York City Department of Health, and the Rockaways once every two weeks. But even when levels exceed the standards, the public is not notified, says Mark Dorfman who authored the Natural Resources Defense Council report.
The New York City Department of Health responded that there is an ongoing wet-weather advisory posted on some Bronx beaches warning bathers of the dangers of going in the water should rainfall exceed certain amounts. These amounts vary by borough because of the sewage infrastructure (see Wet Weather Advisory chart). This advisory can also be found at the Department of Health's website.
Wet Weather Advisory: Manhattan Beach, BROOKLYN
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According to the National Weather Service, precipitation in the city for the month of July (August not yet available) exceeded the safe rainfall standards on several days. Though the city has not yet released how many beaches were closed this year, they said that none of them were closed due to sewage. But the last year figures were available (1998), 59 beaches were closed either because bacteria levels were exceeded or there was a known "sewage release."
TESTING THE WATERS:
The Natural Resources Defense Council also criticized New York City, and all but one county of New York State (Niagara), for their testing process that uses fecal coliforms (found in human waste) as the indicator of potential disease causing organisms in the water. The EPA recommended in 1986 that the presence of enterococcus organisms be used as the indicator instead of fecal coliforms because their presence is most often linked disease-causing organisms. A bill is presently making its way through the Senate and Congress to make the EPA recommendation mandatory for all states. "You can't test for every possible disease causing organism," said Dorfman, "but enterococcus is the better indicator of contamination of swimming waters."
John Gadd, a spokesperson for the Department of Health maintained that fecal coliforms were an effective and efficient indicator of the presence of bacteria. "Coliforms are always present in waters that have too much sewage," Gadd explained.
In addition to water testing, the Department of Health monitors sanitary conditions on the beaches. They would also conduct epidemiological investigations in the event of an outbreak of disease caused by unsafe waters, "which to my knowledge has not happened," assured Gadd.
ENHANCED BEACH PROTECTION:
Meanwhile, the City's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is applauding the efforts of its own Enhanced Beach Protection Program that monitors, analyzes and performs preventative maintenance on the wastewater facilities and sewage bypass outlets near City beaches during summer months.
According to the DEP's soon to be released Harbor Water Quality Survey of 1999, DEP found fecal coliform bacteria to have decreased from 2000 cells per 100 milligrams to levels below 100 cells per 100 milligrams from 1974 to present.
OTHER HAZARDS:
The last report of needles washing ashore was in 1998 and the Department of Parks was not aware of any more recent appearances. "The beaches are very clean" said Amy Chiu, a spokesperson at Parks and Recreation, "and we are taking good care of them."
Perhaps anxiety over the West Nile Virus contributed to the reduced numbers at the beaches, but if so, needlessly. "The types of mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus are most active from dusk to dawn," explained Gadd from the Department of Health. The precautions to cover up only apply to those hours.
Swimming after dusk can also be hazardous. A mother and her six-year old daughter drowned while swimming after seven at night at Rockaway Beach on June 25th. The lifeguards go off-duty at six. And an 11-year old boy also drowned this summer on a private beach in the Rockaways outside the city's jurisdiction. There was no lifeguard.
LIFEGUARD AS PAYBACK:
Fear of a lifeguard shortage at the beginning of the season sparked a massive recruitment effort outside of the city, including a call to "able bodied American's everywhere: Don't you owe New York something for all it's done for you," mentioning fashion, Broadway and Seinfeld as good reasons to "give back" and become a lifeguard. Although the Department of Parks couldn't say how many lifeguards they employed from out of town, apparently this effort paid off and all the beaches were covered.
It was starting to look like rain again as Sergey Fedorovskiy was relieved from his lifeguard chair. He stretched out for his break on a reclining lounger at the foot of the lifeguard station. "We like the rain," he said, and smiled, as he closed his eyes. Fewer people at the beaches make at least some people happy.
Peter B. Fleischer, currently writing a book on the New York City waterfront, was formerly a transportation and environment policy advisor to New York City Mayors David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani.
Giant oil tankers, passenger ferries, freight ships laden with Toyotas all navigate the narrow channels of New York's harbor. So, increasingly, do sail boats, jet skiers and kayaks.
The waters are not always calm between the traditional commercial and the new recreational users. "You can not see them until it is almost too late", says one tugboat veteran of the kayaks and jet-skies. "They seem to steer right toward us", said one kayaker of the ferries.
"Everyone has a right to use the waterways," says Chip Lopez. "Kayakers have just as much right as tug boats."
Lopez is a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard. He is leading the effort to make sure the recreational and commercial users avoid knocking hulls or knocking heads.
Lieutenant Lopez works closely with the Coast Guard's Vessel Tracking Service, a mostly modern facility tucked into the Fort Wadsworth complex on Staten Island. Computer screens show harbor images to trained Coast Guard officers. Cameras located at critical harbor crunch points send back live pictures. The CG has the resources to watch the big ships and the danger spots. Small vessels and most of the harbor's small waterways are "off the radar screen."
Adam Brown, president of the not-for-profit Working Waterfront Association, works to balance a rising tide of usage with the traditional ways and routines. "Pleasure craft are the smallest, least maritime educated and fastest moving users", he notes. Mr. Brown has entered the fray between kayakers and ferryboats, jet skiers and container ships, maritime tradition and recreational freedom.
Brown observes that "this is the smoke before the fire". Commercial traffic is up. Pleasure use is rapidly emerging. "We need to educate and we need to plan". Brown supports efforts to educate users by promulgating nighttime lighting schemes for small boats and creating color-coded harbor maps showing the shipping channels. A test program to identify conflict points has been proposed.
While safety is the primary mission of the responsible authorities, enforcement is also necessary. The Coast Guard, the New York State Marine Police and the New York City Police Department Harbor Units share jurisdiction. None of the entities has adequate resources resulting, in gaps in enforcement. The mix of federal, state, and city waterfront regulations lead to overlap and confusion. The harbor itself is vast. New users are untrained in maritime practice.
On a recent afternoon, million gallons of oil headed through the Arthur Kill even as a dozen kayakers paddled on a free boat trip to the Statue of Liberty. On this trip, their routes did not cross.
Peter B. Fleischer, currently writing a book on the New York City waterfront, was formerly a transportation and environment policy advisor to New York City Mayors David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani.