The Nation - News from July 18, 1988

Medical debris washed up on the beach at the federally run Jacob Riis Park in Queens, N.Y., forcing officials to make it the fifth local beach closed to swimmers over the weekend. Two beaches at the Gateway National Recreation Area--Great Kills Park and Miller Field--on Staten Island as well as the city-run South and Midland beaches on Staten Island were shut down earlier in the week and remained closed because of medical waste. The beach at Jacob Riis Park was closed to swimming when eight syringes and other medical debris were discovered to have washed ashore, said Manny Strumpf, a spokesman for the National Park Service.