Two years after her 16-year-old son Elyjha Chandler drowned off Jacob Riis Beach, Flatbush mother Aminatu Noah is pushing New York City to treat water-safety education as a lifesaving basic rather than a seasonal afterthought. Her campaign is gaining traction as the city expands swim lessons, updates school requirements and faces another summer of crowded beaches and dangerous surf.
Noah and Kibret Perkins, whose son Christian also died in the 2024 drowning, held their second annual memorial basketball tournament on June 20 at Foster Park. More than 300 people attended the event, far exceeding the organizers’ expectation of about 70, according to Brooklyn Paper.
Elyjha and Christian drowned off Jacob Riis Beach on June 21, 2024, after entering dangerous ocean conditions. At the time, lifeguards were on duty from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the boys’ deaths helped focus public attention on rip currents, late-day swimming and the risks facing young people who may not recognize how quickly ocean conditions can turn deadly.
Noah has since lent her voice to Rising Tide Effect’s Water Wise campaign, including a public-service video called “A Mother’s Voice.” On the organization’s Aminatu’s Story page, she explains that her son and his friend did not understand the danger of rip currents and urges families to learn how to respond before heading into open water.
New City Rules Put Water Safety In Schools
New York City Local Law 6 of 2026 requires NYC Parks to create written materials on water safety and drowning prevention by August 1. The materials must cover safety practices and city programs, then be distributed to public school students at the beginning and end of each academic year, according to the City Council legislation.
The policy shift arrives alongside a major expansion of free swimming instruction. The mayor’s office said the 2026 summer program added eight outdoor pool locations and opened more than 16,000 slots, while a separate City Council allocation of $1.5 million is expected to provide more than 58,500 lessons to an additional 3,000 public school second-graders.
Those investments respond to a problem that extends beyond one beach. The Mayor’s Office said city programs taught roughly 6,000 second-graders how to swim since the initiative began, while the 2024 drowning toll at city beaches reached seven people—the highest total since 2019, according to the New York City Council.
At Jacob Riis, The Lifeguard Clock Still Matters
The National Park Service says lifeguards are on duty at Jacob Riis Park daily from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, generally between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and advises visitors to swim only in monitored areas. Rip currents can pull swimmers away from shore quickly, and city safety guidance urges anyone caught in one to stay calm, swim parallel to the beach and avoid fighting directly against the current.
Noah is also asking the National Park Service to create a memorial for Elyjha and Christian at the park where their families lost them. As Brooklyn Paper reported, she believes a permanent reminder could keep their names tied to a warning that reaches beachgoers before another family gets the same phone call.
Her advocacy now sits at the intersection of grief and policy: longer-term water-safety lessons in schools, easier access to swimming instruction and clearer warnings about rip currents. The ocean will not become less unpredictable, but Noah is trying to make sure fewer young New Yorkers meet that unpredictability without knowing what it can do.
