NYC beaches to close as Hurricane Erin threatens massive waves, riptides

Chris Sommerfeldt and Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News on Aug 19, 2025

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Swimming will be prohibited at all New York City beaches Wednesday and Thursday as Hurricane Erin is threatening to bring dangerous rip currents and waves as high as 13 feet to shores all along the East Coast.

Mayor Adams and Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, the city’s Parks Department commissioner, announced the planned closures Tuesday afternoon. In a statement, they said visitors will be able to access the sand, but can’t go into the water.

“We strongly urge all New Yorkers to heed these warnings and not risk their lives by entering the water,” Rodriguez-Rosa said.

Parks Department lifeguards and Parks Enforcement Patrol officers will be posted along city beaches, including the Rockaways and Coney Island, to enforce the swimming prohibition, according to a press release disseminated by the Mayor’s Office.

Erin is the first Atlantic hurricane this year. The National Weather Service labeled it a Category 2 storm Tuesday morning as it barreled north from the Caribbean.

A high surf advisory was placed in effect for Wednesday through Thursday for all Atlantic Ocean beaches, Governor Kathy Hochul said Tuesday. Ocean seas are expected to build 11 to 15 feet.

“New Yorkers are no strangers to hurricanes — that is why I’m urging those living in areas that may be impacted to stay safe and exercise caution until the hurricane tapers off later this week,” Hochul said.

Hurricane Erin will roar past the Bahamas tonight and is expected to move northwest into the Atlantic between the East Coast and Bermuda on Wednesday and Thursday. The storm will produce life-threatening rip currents along East Coast beaches, impacting New York, New Jersey and Long Island, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Tuesday afternoon, the tropical cyclone was around 650 miles southwest of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. The storm’s intensity will fluctuate over the next few days.

New York and New Jersey are expected to see rainfall as a result of the storm.

Forecasters believe the center of the storm will remain far offshore as it travels northward, yet is still likely to bring damaging, tropical-force winds, large swells and life-threatening rip currents.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy urged people to avoid swimming at beaches on Tuesday.

“Hurricane Erin is expected to cause dangerous rip currents along the Shore for the next several days. Please avoid swimming in the ocean, especially when lifeguards are not present. It is more important that you stay alive than get one more beach day before the end of summer,” Murphy said on X.

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