Man sleeping on Coney Island fatally run over by Parks Department cleaning truck

The man was killed in the early morning hours on Monday

Coney Island New Rides (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A man lying on a beach in Coney Island was killed after a city Parks and Recreation vehicle ran him over.

According to the New York City Police Department, the 47-year-old man was killed just before 3am on Monday morning when a city vehicle, a Ford F-250 truck, ran him over on the beach.

The man has not yet been identified by police and was pronounced dead on the scene. The driver of the city vehicle stayed at the scene of the accident until authorities arrived, reports NBC News.

New York City routinely dose over-night beach cleanups to ensure that litter is removed before morning beachgoers arrive.

In a statement to NBC News, the New York City Parks Department called the incident “a horrific tragedy” and confirmed they are “investigating the incident internally.

While tents are prohibited on some New York beaches, it does not appear that sleeping on the beach is expressly prohibited under New York law. According to the state's laws, beaches are open between 10am and 6pm between Memorial Day weekend through mid-September. This year's beach season ends on 11 September.

Beachgoers are prohibited from swimming during any hours that a lifeguard is not present and, at least at the Coney Island Beach and boardwalk, must be off the beach between the hours of 9pm and 6am daily.

Though its unclear if the man killed by the truck was homeless, it’s no secret that the number of individuals left on the streets in New York City has only been growing. The Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy and direct service organization helping homeless individuals and families, reports that “homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s” in recent years; they note that as of March 2022, there were 48,524 homeless people in the city.

Homelessness is happening in part due to New York City’s notoriously high rents, which have only continued to rise over the last year. The high rents have been exacerbated by a slow economic bounceback following the economy’s hobbling by the pandemic and the subsequent rise in inflation over the last year.

In June, the average rent in Manhattan exceeded $5,000 per month. The borough’s median rent climbed just over $4,000 for the same month.

According to data published by City Limits, individuals housing in shelters has increased steadily over the last several months, rising from 45,000 to more than 50,000 by 14 July. Those who have chosen not to utilise the services of shelters often stay on the street, in parks, subway stations, or potentially on beaches.