Borough President Eric Adams and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito / File photo

Following New York City’s sixth drowning death on public property this season, Borough President Eric Adams is calling for a trio of reforms to prevent future drownings.

Adams made the proposals during a press conference yesterday on the boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue, just yards away from where 10-year-old Takara McDuffy was pulled from the water on Tuesday and pronounced dead.

Alongside Councilman Mark Treyger, who represents Coney Island, Adams pushed for water safety reforms to be made at both the city and state levels.

The centerpiece of his proposal is an initiative to require water safety and swimming education in all schools. Adams’ office said they’re working with Coney Island’s State Senator Diane Savino to push the measure in Albany. The proposal would require teaching about the dangers posed by water and provide swimming lessons beginning in the second grade.

Takara McDuffy (Source: Facebook)

“Although it’s a beautiful place to be, it could be a very dangerous place if we’re not taught how to be safe in the environment,” said Adams. “Because there’s no clear format of teaching water safety, our children and families are recklessly going to the water’s edge believing that this beautiful ocean is a toy.”

McDuffy’s life might have been saved with such knowledge, Adams suggested. The 10-year-old had been playing on the jetty at Stillwell Avenue after lifeguards went off-duty; she and her sister fell into the water. Neither knew how to swim, and good Samaritans spotted them struggling and dove in, but only McDuffy’s 9-year-old sister could be saved.

Adams and Treyger are also calling for increased enforcement on the becahes after it closes. Treyger said he wants to see the Parks Department boost the number of Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) officers, and task them with ordering beachgoers out of the water once lifeguards go off-duty.

“We need more PEP officers, not just simply volunteers,” said Treyger. “Particularly when the beach is closed and swimming is over, patrol the beaches to make sure there are no children of families left in the water.”

The Parks Department already has 15 PEP officers stationed on Brighton Beach and Coney Island beach, according to PIX11.

The borough president’s office said they’re also pushing to require CPR training for every city worker, which could provide a veritable army of trained lifesavers across the five borough. A drowning or choking victim can be spared death or brain damage by cutting CPR response time by as little as two minutes, and increasing the number of people trained to provide assistance could drastically reduce response time.

Adams’ staff is looking at legislative options to make the training mandatory.

Takara McDuffy (Source: Facebook via Daily News)

A good Samaritan yanked a 10-year-old girl and her 9-year-old sister from the water at Coney Island beach after seeing them fall off a nearby rock jetty, but the older girl did not survive.

Takara McDuffy was pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital shortly after the 7 p.m. beach rescue near Stillwell Avenue. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, but it is presumed to be a drowning.

The girls, from Staten Island, were playing at the beach with a group of family friends. Witnesses told reporters that they were playing on the jetty unsupervised and fell into the water. Bystanders jumped to action, and pulled both girls to shore.

The New York Post reports:

“People came rushing from all over to help out. It was horrible, it was chaotic,” said witness Ena ­McCaskill.

After a frantic, 10-minute search, a man found the girl floating about 100 yards from the jetty.

“He had a sound of desperation in his voice,” McCaskill recalled. “He was yelling for somebody to help him save the girl.”

Another good Samaritan administered CPR on the beach.

“A regular guy grabbed her and started doing CPR,” said witness Joseph ­Josephs, 24. “He was pounding her chest for a good minute. A lot of water was coming from her mouth.”

McDuffy’s parents lashed out at those who were supposed to be watching over their daughters, the Daily News reports.

The gathered friends and family demanded to know why little Takara – who could not swim – was apparently unsupervised by the group of adults she had gone to the beach with.

“It took a man to jump into the water and pull her out. Some man saw Takara’s body floating and he jumped in,” the family member said.

“Why wasn’t nobody paying attention? You was there all day and let her go in the water. Why wouldn’t you ask if she could swim?”

The incident happened less than an hour after lifeguards packed up for the evening. Swimming is prohibited at city beaches after 6:00 p.m., and there were no lifeguards on duty.

According to Borough President Eric Adams, it’s the sixth drowning death of the summer. Along with Councilmember Mark Treyger, who represents Coney Island, Adams will hold a press conference near the beach today to reiterate his call for citywide reforms to make public beaches safer, and will also be distributing the following fliers sharing water safety tips.

From the office of City Councilman Chaim Deutsch:

Click to enlarge

Well, this is certainly something new. Councilman Chaim Deutsch and the Bay Improvement Group are teaming up to bring live music to Emmons Avenue’s Driscoll Tucker Park, beginning this Sunday.

As you can see from the flier above, there will be three dates, with three hours of live music each day, beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Tucker Park is on Emmons Avenue at East 27th Street, right next to Stella Maris Bait and Tackle shop. No word on what type of music will be playing, but the flier says bring dancing shoes. Though I do not own those particular kind of shoes, I’ll stop by anyway.

The Kings Bay YM-YWHA celebrated another banner year for its annual Israel Expo, the largest Israeli-themed festival in Brooklyn held in front of its 3495 Nostrand Avenue headquarters.

With a real, live petting zoo, music from professionals and student performers, food, vendors, amusements and rides, the event drew a diverse audience of thousands.

It’s hard to say what the biggest draw was, but this reporter was impressed by the performance put on by a group of Korean Christians showing solidarity for Israel and Jews worldwide. The group put on a traditional and dramatic drum show to the delight of onlookers.

Check out the photos for a sense of how the day went!

View the photo gallery.

The following is from our friends at the Kings Bay YM-YWHA:

The Kings Bay YM-YWHA will hold its Annual Israel Celebration on Sunday, June 8th from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Y’s main site at 3495 Nostrand Avenue (between Avenues U and V). The event is free and open to the public.

The celebration will spotlight Israeli music and dance, interactive games and exhibits that showcase the achievements of Israel’s citizens, travel opportunities to Israel and much more. Thousands are expected to attend. Nostrand Avenue will be closed to traffic between Avenues U and V.

The community will enjoy live music, an Israeli marketplace full of jewelry, Judaica, Israeli craft, delicious food and giveaways. Children will play on carnival rides, visit a petting zoo and participate in other fun activities like face painting and sand-art.

Elected officials are scheduled to address the crowd at 12:15 pm.

For more information, contact Alina at 718-648-7703, ext. 224 or via e-mail at [email protected].

The first ever Sheepshead Stroll took place this Sunday drawing thousands of attendees, and highlighting local merchants through a block party atmosphere on Sheepshead Bay Road.

The Stroll is a local version of the Department of Transportation’s Weekend Walk initiative, in which the agency works with community partners to close down the road to traffic, and allows businesses to turn their storefronts inside-out for shopping, dining and entertaining. The event was hosted by Empower Sheepshead and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and sponsored by Sheepshead Bites, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, State Senator Marty Golden and the Kings Bay Y.

Blessed with beautiful weather, thousands came out for food samples, giveaways, kids entertainment, shopping and eating. Keep reading for the photo tour of the event.

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Just a reminder that this Sunday, June 1, from noon to 5 p.m., Sheepshead Bay Road will  be turned into an outdoor amusement and shopping destination.

The streets will be closed to traffic and opened up for a block party like atmosphere at Sheepshead Stroll, with fun activities, games, contests and more. Businesses on Sheepshead Bay Road, between the subway station and Emmons Avenue, will be allowed to turn their stores inside out, taking over the sidewalks in front of their establishments for outdoor cafes, restaurants and beer gardens. There’ll be no such thing as window shopping, as clothing stores and other retailers put their merchandise out on display.

The Department of Transportation will bring additional tables and chairs for anyone to sit and enjoy the good weather, and several businesses are bringing in live entertainment. See the above flier for more information.

Just a word of note: buses will be rerouted to adjacent streets, and some side streets will be closed off to traffic as well. There will be parking in muni-lots and elsewhere, but it’ll be beautiful weather out, so walk it if you can!

My apologies to our readers and the Sheepshead Bay – Plumb Beach Civic Association. The group rescheduled its meeting from last week to tonight, and somewhere in the mix I overlooked posting the new notice until just now. As a result, it’s pretty short notice, but details are in the flier above.

Still haven’t filed your taxes? Me neither. Fortunately, qualifying applicants can have it done for free at the Sheepshead Bay library this Saturday. See the flier above for details.