New York City Mayor Eric Adams gave an unbelievable, laughter-inducing response when asked about the city’s lifeguard shortage.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, reporters noted that the city’s pools and beaches are suffering from a lifeguard shortage as Memorial Day weekend approaches.
Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi, who also attended the briefing, said just 560 people qualified to be lifeguards in the city this year.
The city has been dealing with the shortage for years, with Governor Kathy Hochul approving a proposal to lower the minimum age for lifeguard certification to 15 years old from 16 years old in order to relieve the demand.
Adams, however, has come up with a more novel approach.
He suggested the city turn to the recent influx of immigrants because, as he said, they are “excellent swimmers.”
A large number of the immigrants are those who entered illegally after swimming across canals and, increasingly, by the Caribbean Sea from countries like Haiti.
“How do we have a large body of people that are in our city, and country, that are excellent swimmers and at the same time we need lifeguards — and the only obstacle is that we won’t give them the right to work to become a lifeguard?” Adams said.
He was referring to the nearly 200.000 immigrants in New York City and further 50,000 applications for asylum, which he has complained are overwhelming the city’s social service resources.
“So we have all these eligible people waiting to work with the skills we need to fill the jobs, but we’re unable to allow them to work because bureaucracy is in the way. That’s just — that just does not make sense.”
He also cited other open positions that immigrants could be fast-tracked to fill, including the food service industry and health services like nursing.
Adams office did not respond to requests for further comment.
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