NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A group of New York City urban park rangers saved two teenagers who fell through the frozen Crotona Lake in the Bronx, and they are using the dangerous incident to remind adolescents of the risks of stepping out on the ice.
A 14-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy were nearly submerged in the middle of the lake when they were rescued. When ranger Victoria Mezik spotted the teens from nearby, she saw that they were up to their shoulders in water.
“It was shocking because there was no—it seemed like there was no response at first,” she told 1010 WINS.
Mezik jumped into action, going out onto the lake for the first time. She and three colleagues used two 15-foot rescue ladders to crawl out to the teens.
“While shouting directions to them to stay low and continue to crawl, I demonstrated that, and they were able to get themselves out of the water,” Mezik said.
Once out of the water, the teens were able to walk away unharmed.
Sergeant Daniel Tainow said that park rangers had to kick five more teenagers off the ice right after the incident.
“There’s several high schools right around this park where the kids come and hang out and we have to talk to them daily about staying off the ice,” Tainow said.
There are more than 150 miles of shoreline and 96 bodies of water in the NYC park system, and the department sent out a reminder to New Yorkers in January about the dangers of venturing out onto the ice of ponds and lakes.
NYC Parks said that people should not attempt to walk on any bodies of water that appear frozen and that parents and caregivers should make sure their children are never unattended near ice. But if you happen to be on the ice and hear cracking, parks officials said that you should immediately lie down to try and distribute their weight.
“Don’t go out on the ice, and if you see someone out on the ice, don’t try to rescue them yourselves,” Tainow said. “Call 911.”