Thrill-seeking surfers flocked to Rockaway Beach to ride the monster waves churned up by the nor’easter lashing New York City Monday — with several raving they cruised some of the sickest swells they’ve ever seen.
“As far as the waves today, I would say this is about an eight out of 10, worldwide,” said 28-year-old Bill McGarry. “I’ve surfed all around the world. I did a lot of contests when I was younger. I won some.”
McGarry and a buddy came all the way from Virginia Beach to chase the waves Monday, driving through the night in the thick of the storm after tracking it online and determining Rockaway would have the best of the bad conditions.
“We left at 2 a.m. We just got here at 10 a.m. and went straight into 10-foot clean waves,” McGarry told The Post. “This is definitely exceeding our expectations.”
Waves upwards of 15 feet battered the East Coast Sunday into Monday as the nor’easter whipped wind gusts up to 60 mph at times, with the length of the Jersey Shore through Long Island seeing the worst of the lashing.
The storm is expected to cause coastal flooding, prompting both New Jersey and New York to declare states of emergency.
But the declaration was no deterrent for many surfers, even though a few soon found themselves in over their heads — sometimes literally.
“I’m hoping to catch the wave of my life. I’ve never gone out in a swell this big!” said 24-year-old Gabe Neves as he waded into the water. “I’m planning on a half-hour to 45 minutes out there.”
Within five minutes, however, Neves was staggering back onto the beach.
“The pressure of the undertow! The power is too much!” he said. “This was ridiculous. Waves eight to 10 feet high? Rockaway never gets this big!”
Dakin Platt, 29, called the sea “a little scary” but paddled out anyway.
“A thrill for sure, but it’s a little much. I wish I had a slightly bigger board. It’s like floating between mountains today,” he said.
The nor’easter is expected to blow out to sea overnight Monday, but coastal winds could persist around 25 mph into Tuesday.
Rain has also fallen steadily throughout, but the city was spared the bursts of torrential downpours New Yorkers have come to dread after subway stations were flooded several times in recent years.
At least one person has been confirmed killed in the metro area — an elderly woman — after a solar panel was blown from a rooftop and struck her on the street.
And the emergency declaration storm prompted the annual Fifth Ave. Columbus Day Parade to be cancelled, with no plans currently in place for it to be rescheduled.
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