Don Honey comes to the spot where 19-year-old Mario Acatilta drowned at least two or three times per week.
Honey, from Old Howard Beach, said he was there on Sunday, July 5 when Acatilta and his friend, Jesus Gonzales, who were fishing by the North Channel Bridge in Broad Channel, reportedly lost their footing and were pulled into deeper water.
“There were two guys and they got pulled under by a current,” Honey told The Courier. “It’s amazing that they found one of the guys . . . I thought he was dead but when they were rushing him to the ambulance his hand was moving.”
Cesar Meneses, a former lifeguard, sprung to action when he noticed the pair was in trouble.
“I saw this one guy, his hand was going like a propeller,” said Budeshwar Singh, of Brooklyn, who had just arrived on the scene. “He was trying to get out. If nobody had saved him, he was gone too [like the other guy].”
Gonzales was given CPR and taken to Jamaica Hospital; Acatilta, a Mexican immigrant from Brooklyn, was recovered a few hours later. Grief-stricken relatives had gathered on the scene at that point.
It is still unclear what exactly happened, but Brian Feeney, a spokesperson for the Gateway National Recreation Area, said that park police were on patrol at the time, and that it “seems the two men waded into the water.”
Feeney said that the waters were calm at the time of the incident, and Honey agreed.
“Believe it or not, the water was very calm,” he said.
Signs posted in the area prohibit swimming, wading or diving, but do allow recreational fishing.
“There are rocks that can be slippery, sediment can collect and you can sink, and it does drop off at one point,” said Feeney, who was unsure exactly how deep the drop-off is.
Nautical charts indicate that although much of the water in the area is shallow –just a few feet deep – mere yards away, the bottom of the boating channels can drop off to 30 feet and more.
“I was born and raised out here so I know these waters,” said Angelo Bavaro from Howard Beach. “Even I wouldn’t go out there.”
Bavaro said the shelf drops off very abruptly and it is safe if one is fishing up to his ankles without boots or waders.
“Once you go down you go down,” he said. “You aren’t getting out of those waders, especially if you panic.”
But Feeney said that it is “highly unusual to have a drowning by fishermen in the park.”
In fact, he continued, “In designated swimming areas [Jacob Riis Park], in the history of the park, no one has ever drowned when lifeguards are on duty.”
“It’s the first time I actually saw anybody drown out here and I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid,” said Honey.
