Memorial Day weekend was a washout at East Hampton Village’s vaunted beaches, but inclement weather did not dampen the enthusiasm felt by Sean Daly for his new role as the village’s chief lifeguard, succeeding Drew Smith.
The post represents something of a full-circle moment for Mr. Daly, who grew up in Bridgehampton, started lifeguarding as a teenager, and happened to be surfing off Montauk on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. The events of that day inspired him, less than one year later, to join the New York City Police Department. “I left East Hampon Village’s Main Beach,” he said of a day in July 2002, telling fellow staffers that “they told me I’m starting next Monday,” three days hence. “I drove out of the parking lot, drove to Manhattan, and started at the Police Academy.”
For the next several years, he was among 1,400 officers fresh from the Police Academy who patrolled crime-ridden neighborhoods, housing projects, and subway stations as part of Operation Impact, an effort to keep violent crime at what was then the lowest rate in a generation. “They flooded the area with brand-new recruits to stand foot post in Times Square,” Mr. Daly said of his contingent of 120 new officers.
“It was definitely an eye-opener,” he remembered. “I came from the Hamptons, and really thought life would be easy — ‘Everyone has a BMW or Range Rover, why don’t I? Money grows on trees, I live in La-La Land.’ “ During that span, he continued to lifeguard on a part-time basis.
Commuting to Manhattan from Oyster Bay, and sometimes from East Hampton, “I would get to Penn Station and watch tens of thousands of people come off the trains. All walks of life — lawyers, doctors, iron workers, cops, firemen, all shapes, sizes, colors. I remember thinking, what am I doing? Are they better than me, stronger? It’s 5 a.m., these guys are doing the same miserable commute. How can I feel sorry for myself?”
Ed McDonald, then the beach manager, asked Mr. Daly if he knew David Driscoll, who had just become the commanding officer of the N.Y.P.D.’s harbor unit. He did not, Mr. Daly said, but in a serendipitous moment, “I was stuck in traffic on Newtown Lane, and Dave Driscoll was stuck next to me. He said, ‘Are you Sean Daly? I can get you on the scuba team if you can pass the physical, take my number.’ I called, and he said, ‘If you want to join the scuba team . . . but it’s a really tough physical.”
Mr. McDonald and Mr. Driscoll “changed the trajectory of my life,” he said. “I ended up going to the scuba team — an elite unit, especially within law enforcement dive teams.” The experience, he said, “taught me that I could do things others couldn’t. It’s a nice thing to be able to rescue someone in water, especially in the surf zone, being a surfer, being able to enter and exit the water in rough conditions.”
Mr. Daly retired from the N.Y.P.D. in 2024. He had maintained a relationship with village officials throughout his law enforcement career, typically filling in near the end of the summer after many lifeguards had returned to college. He now lives in Hampton Bays. “The commute is rougher than ideal,” he said, “but I have a real love for that beach, and lifeguarding really sets the stage for many things in my life. I am indebted to it, and have a lot of love for it still. Water safety has been a passion of mine.”
Stephen P. Leatherman, a coastal scientist and professor who is popularly known as Dr. Beach, recently issued his annual list of America’s Top 10 best beaches, and Main Beach landed at number five. “We have the best beaches and lifeguards in the world,” Mr. Daly said. “We really do. They are a great bunch of lifeguards, and have been there for many years. We have new ones as well, and everyone’s dedicated. It’s a great beach to work at. I’m blessed to be there.”
