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Six teenage lifeguards — at least two of whom were on the clock — lit up inside a car parked on Seagirt Boulevard near Beach Ninth Street around 2:20 p.m., police sources said.
Cops found two joints, two bags of weed and a pipe inside the 2002 Suburban and charged all six with possession of marijuana, authorities said.
“It’s completely unacceptable that lifeguards are getting high. [It] could clearly impact the public-safety job that they are required to do,” said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates.
Two of the teens have since resigned, a Parks Department spokesman said.
Even regulars who say they love the friendly beach watchdogs admitted they sometimes catch them slacking off — especially on sleepy, bad-weather days.
“Two weeks ago, I noticed a young group of lifeguards sunbathing . . . One guard was on duty, but the rest were just sunbathing and hanging around,” said Ramona Heeraman, a community-health educator from nearby Inwood, LI.
“They should be aware of swimmers. I picked up on it. I was in the water with a baby, so I was aware of the lifeguards,” she said.
Shirley Lincoln, 40, who came to the beach on Tuesday, said she sometimes catches them gabbing on their cellphones.
“Here, they do nothing. They’re on their phones,” she said. “You don’t see them blowing their whistle.”
Lifeguards charged with marijuana possession include Christine Skaff, 18, Dylan Montesa, 18, Anthony Perez, 17, Matthew Magiera, 19, Charles Van Rossem, 19, and Emma Knox, 17, police sources said.
The Parks Department spokesman would not say which of the teens resigned or which ones were on duty.
“We are investigating the circumstances behind this incident . . . NYC Parks employs some 1,500 lifeguards who work hard each day to keep the thousands of people who swim at our beaches and pools safe,” the spokesman said.
“That is a serious responsibility for which lifeguards are required to be fit for duty at all times,” he added.
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