New York City has no trouble staffing a great number of niche specialists. Somehow the parks department can find FAA licensed drone operators, but they are unable to find some lifeguards? And the issue is not just ocean lifeguard certification. The city also has a shortage of lifeguards for their pools which now need to operate at ~30% capacity during the summer.
The issues fall with the lifeguard union combined with absurd legal/safety requirements combined with rampant mismanagement. Frankly it is pretty upsetting to go to the beach in Far Rockaway, where you must be corralled into the one jetty that has all the lifeguards (spaced about 50 feet apart). The parks department of course has resources to deploys people with whistles to walk up the beach and yell at anyone getting too close to the water.
The issues fall with the lifeguard union combined with absurd legal/safety requirements combined with rampant mismanagement. Frankly it is pretty upsetting to go to the beach in Far Rockaway, where you must be corralled into the one jetty that has all the lifeguards (spaced about 50 feet apart). The parks department of course has resources to deploys people with whistles to walk up the beach and yell at anyone getting too close to the water.