City not responsible for Coney Island drowning, Brooklyn Court rules
New York City provided sufficiently trained lifeguards on Coney Island beach and cannot be held liable for the 2008 drowning of a 10-year-old girl, a Brooklyn Appellate Court has ruled.
“[The] city is not an insurer of the safety of the users of its parks, including its beaches…,” a unanimous panel noted in the opinion of the Appellate Division, Second Department.
On July 26, 2008, Akira Johnson, 10, and her cousin, Tyriek Currie, 10, were in the water together off the beach at Coney Island. The two children lost their footing, and a nearby lifeguards noticed and rushed to their aid. Unfortunately only Currie was able to be saved. Johnson’s body washed ashore a few days later.