Rockaway Beach Closed After Woman Is Bitten by a Shark

A 50-year-old woman was bitten by a shark Monday afternoon at Rockaway Beach, the authorities said, in what was the first confirmed shark bite in New York City in decades.

A shark bit the woman on her left leg as she swam near Beach 59th Street, a spokeswoman for the New York City parks department said. Lifeguards removed her from the water and administered first aid, before emergency responders took the woman, who was in critical condition, to Jamaica Hospital.

“We hope for a full recovery for this swimmer,” the spokeswoman, Meghan Lalor, said in a statement. “Though this was a frightening event, we want to remind New Yorkers that shark bites in Rockaway are extremely rare.”

A spokesman for the New York City Police Department said on Tuesday morning that the woman’s condition was “serious but stable.”

Lifeguards ordered everyone to exit the water after the attack, and helicopters searched for sharks but did not spot any. The beach is closed for swimming and surfing on Tuesday.

Park officials described Monday’s shark attack as the first on Rockaway Beach “in recent memory.”

All of Rockaway’s beaches were closed for one day last July because of shark sightings, leaving only the boardwalk open to beachgoers.

And five shark attacks occurred on Long Island over two weeks last summer, according to The Long Island Press.

A surfer may have been bitten at Rockaway Beach in 2017, according to Patch.com, which reported that he had to get 40 stitches in his right foot after the incident.

A baby great white shark named Bruin was spotted near where the man had been surfing, but one expert told Patch that the wounds didn’t appear to have been caused by a shark.

Ed Shanahan contributed reporting.