Tragedy Strikes Again as Hudson River Claims Fifth Victim in Ten Month Span
AT least five people have died in the Hudson River off the west side of Manhattan in less than a year. The latest is a Queens man who has been identified as 22 year old Kevin Figueroa who was fished from the water off pier 84 on May 29th. In a heartbreaking story last month, two boys, 11 and 13, drowned after apparently slipping on rocks and falling into the river after sneaking through a hole in a fence to play near the shore. One was found in the Hudson, the other had his body discovered in the Harlem River. It follows a boating tragedy on July 12, 2022, in which two were killed including a 7-year-old boy when a party boat capsized.
| 12 Jun 2023 | 11:17
For the second time in recent weeks, police and fire rescue units were searching the Hudson River for a missing person which once again turned tragic when a 22 year old man was pulled from the water just off of Pier 84 but was pronounced dead after efforts to revive him failed. Photo: Citizen app
Five people have drowned in the Hudson River in the past ten months, making it one of the deadliest stretches ever. The latest has been identified by police as 22 year old Kevin Figueroa who was pulled from the Hudson River on May 29 but could not be revived.
HIs name had been withheld until family members were identified. Police said he was a resident of 85-09 98th St in Queens. The medical examiner had not released the cause of death at presstime, although one police source said the victim may have jumped into the chilly water and taken his own life. The incident came only hours after the USS Wasp and other ships left Pier 84 and surrounding docks at the end of Fleet Week, but the two events don’t appear to be related.
It is the second tragedy in the waters of the Hudson in recent weeks. Two youths, Alfa Barrie, 11 and Garrett Warren, 13, were last seen alive together on May 12 on 145th Street and Lenox Ave. in Harlem but were discovered drowned several days apart.
Warren’s body was found in the Hudson River on May 18th, Barrie’s body was not located until two days later in the Harlem River on the East Side.
Police said the boys had climbed through a hole in a fence and may have been horsing around near the water when they fell into the Hudson. Barrie was a student at Democracy Prep Public School where he was rated a Democracy Prep scholar. “He was a magical boy–funny, bright, witty, inquisitive and brave,” Democracy Prep said of Barrie at the time in a statement. “We honor the life of a beautiful soul and will remember Alfa as someone who touched our hearts with his infectious joy and exceptional character.”
Warren was a student at NEST+M, an elite public school in Manhattan. “He had so many hopes and dreams,” one staffer there told NBC News. “Garret was a kind, funny and goffy child who loved to make his peers and his friends laugh.”
Less than a year ago, on July 12, 2022, two people were killed and several others were injured when a party boat called Stimulus Money hit wake from a commuter ferry and capsized. The two who died included a 7 year old boy, Julian Vasquez, and Lindelia Vasquez, 50 years old.
No further details were available on Kevin Figueroa at presstime.