Coney Island Beach closed after several sharks spotted

“I saw at least four”

July 19, 2016 By Scott Enman Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Lucien Zayan goes to Coney Island every morning in the summer as part of his daily routine. He checks his emails, calls his friends in Paris and reads on the beach.

On Tuesday, however, Zayan’s morning was anything but routine; much to his surprise, he saw several sharks in the water close to the shore at Coney Island Beach.

Immediately after the sharks were spotted, Parks Department officials and lifeguards shut down the beach. In addition, NYPD Harbor and aviation units were monitoring the waters.

Zayan is an eight-year resident of Boerum Hill and owner of the The Invisible Dog Art Center.

In an exclusive interview with the Brooklyn Eagle, Zayan described what he saw.

“Around 7:30 a.m. there are two guys with green T-shirts,” Zayan told the Eagle. “I think they were parks security. They came and they asked everyone to get out of the water… They said, ‘There are sharks in the water,’ and suddenly, we start to see them. I saw at least four. There were many. Swimming was forbidden. They were kicking people out of the water. When I left at 10 a.m., it was still forbidden to swim.

“There was no panic,” Zayan continued. “There wasn’t an attack. The woman from the park said it was a big one. I’ve never [seen] a shark except in a movie, and in the movie, they were pretty big. I [had] never seen a shark in my life. That was really the first time.”