Two men were rescued by the police yesterday after they fell into Jamaica Bay while kayaking post-Nemo. Police say they received a 911 call about the kayakers around 3 p.m. Saturday. The NYPD’s Air Sea Rescue sent up a Bell 412 helicopter to search for them, and discovered one of the 32-year-old men. Two NYPD divers, Det. Brian Singer and Police Officer Marian Kopystianskyj, jumped in the water and got the kayaker out. They then transported him to the Aviation Base at Floyd Bennett Field, where they were met by an ambulance which took the man to Kings County Hospital, where he is being treated for hypothermia. You can see video of the rescue below.
At the same time this was going on, Emergency Services Unit Det. John Kenny saw the second kayaker, also a 32-year-old man, swimming to an anchored boat. He donned his wet suit and swam out 200 yards to the boat; that man was also suffering from hypothermia. The kayaker was taken to Jamaica Hospital and Kenny was taken to Lutheran Hospital; they were both treated for hypothermia.
Both kayakers, and the officers, are all listed in stable condition. Now, if only someone could explain to us why anyone would choose to go kayaking in the partially-frozen Jamaica Bay the day after a blizzard hit the city (water temperatures around New York Harbor are currently around 40 degrees).
