{"id":24637,"date":"2025-05-30T12:37:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multi.nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/mayor-adams-expands-free-swim-lessons-names-program-after-two-brooklyn-teens-lost-to-drowning\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T12:37:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:37:35","slug":"mayor-adams-expands-free-swim-lessons-names-program-after-two-brooklyn-teens-lost-to-drowning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/mayor-adams-expands-free-swim-lessons-names-program-after-two-brooklyn-teens-lost-to-drowning\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Adams Expands Free Swim Lessons, Names Program After Two Brooklyn Teens Lost to Drowning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>New York City Mayor Eric Adams<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> said that Erasmus High School&#8217;s &#8220;Swim for Life&#8221; class will be renamed in honor of <\/span><b>Christian Perkins<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Elyjha Chandler<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, two Brooklyn teens who tragically drowned at <\/span><b>Jacob Riis Beach<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the summer of 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Economic Boost to Help 18,000 Students with Free Lessons<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following a promise made by Mayor Adams to Elyjha&#8217;s mother, <\/span><b>Aminatu Noah<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, during a community discussion in East Flatbush, the program will now be called <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Elyjha Chandler and Christian Perkins Swim for Life Class<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In particular, the renaming is part of a broader citywide initiative to make water safety instruction more accessible to young children. Originally mentioned in his 2025 State of the City address, Mayor Adams is investing an additional $5.5 million in the city&#8217;s &#8220;Swim for Life&#8221; program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than 18,000 second-grade students would be able to receive free swim lessons annually thanks to this additional funding from NYC Parks. This will make it possible for 4,800 more people to take part.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe most important job we have as a city is to take care of our kids and keep them safe,\u201d said Mayor Adams. \u201cBy naming the swim class here at Erasmus High School the &#8216;Elyjha Chandler and Christian Perkins Swim for Life&#8217; class, we are turning unimaginable pain and sorrow into purpose.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the announcement, the teens&#8217; families expressed gratitude and emotion. Christian&#8217;s mother, <\/span><b>Kibret Perkins<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, stated that the memorial &#8220;offers hope, healing, and protection to our community,&#8221; while Elyjha&#8217;s mother described the renaming as a &#8220;step toward change and a legacy of hope.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Closing the Water Safety Education Gap<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The city may now provide free swim lessons at public school pools and a few third-party indoor pools across the five boroughs thanks to the extra money. The program seeks to close the swim safety education gap and lower the risk of drowning, particularly in underprivileged areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than 13,000 kids were taught how to swim by NYC Parks in 2024 alone, and the organization intends to keep teaching in the winter, spring, and fall sessions of the school year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEvery child should have the chance to learn to swim \u2013 it\u2019s not just a skill, it\u2019s a life-saving necessity,\u201d said <\/span><b>NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fixing Pools and Lifeguard Shortages<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to promote water safety, Mayor Adams also outlined further significant investments. The city secured an arbitration agreement in May 2024 that modernizes certification criteria and increases recruiting flexibility for lifeguards, especially for shallow-water pools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This expands on a 2023 deal that gave lifeguards a $1,000 retention bonus in addition to an hourly wage increase to $22.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Adams administration allocated $1 billion for citywide pool improvements as part of a larger initiative to enhance public swimming facilities. The plan calls for the addition of new public pools in Brooklyn and Queens, the first since 2008, and the reopening of seven DOE pools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>New York State Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> praised the program expansion as \u201ca vital investment in public safety and equity,\u201d adding that she would continue pushing for increased swim access at the state level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City beaches reopened for swimming this past weekend, and public pools are scheduled to open on June 27, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To learn more about water safety programs, you can visit <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nycgovparks.org\/programs\/aquatics\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NYC Parks&#8217; website<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that Erasmus High School&#8217;s &#8220;Swim for Life&#8221; class will be renamed in honor of Christian Perkins and Elyjha Chandler, two Brooklyn teens who tragically drowned at Jacob Riis Beach in the summer of 2024. Economic Boost to Help 18,000 Students with Free Lessons Following a promise made by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5893,"featured_media":24638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2717,2866],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bk-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mayor Adams Expands Free Swim Lessons, Names Program After Two Brooklyn Teens Lost to Drowning - Brooklyn News and Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/mayor-adams-expands-free-swim-lessons-names-program-after-two-brooklyn-teens-lost-to-drowning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mayor Adams Expands Free Swim Lessons, Names Program After Two Brooklyn Teens Lost to Drowning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that Erasmus High School&#8217;s &#8220;Swim for Life&#8221; class will be renamed in honor of Christian Perkins and Elyjha Chandler, two Brooklyn teens who tragically drowned at Jacob Riis Beach in the summer of 2024. 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