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Authorities on Sunday suspended a search for the kayaker.
Search and rescue crews in New Jersey and on Staten Island searched the water after a passerby rescued two of the victim's companions when all three of their kayaks overturned near the Great Beds Lighthouse in South Amboy around 3 p.m. Saturday.
None were wearing life jackets, Coast Guard Capt. Jason Tama said.
The NYPD Harbor Unit transported the pair back to Staten Island, where a rescue operation was staged at Wolfe's Pond Park.
The search party included department divers, both NYPD and FDNY boats, members of the U.S. Coast Guard Sandy Hook station in the water and from the Atlantic City Air Station in an MH-65 chopper above.
A Coast Guard cutter continued the search through the evening, and another helicopter took a final pass at dawn, authorities said.
“Suspending a search is never an easy decision to make,” Tama said. "We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends who have been impacted by this tragic incident.”
A short time after that incident later, New York City firefighters rescued two people who dialed 911 after their boat capsized off the Raritan Avenue beach in Keansburg.
The pair were wearing life jackets as they clung to the sinking boat, responders said.
West Keansburg firefighters and the Coast Guard also responded.
Although Gov. Phil Murphy allowed many New Jersey beaches and boardwalks to reopen on Saturday amid a state of emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic, the weekend boating incidents began Friday night.
Witnesses pulled 58-year-old Michael Boccia of Toms River from Barnegat Bay and tried to revive him with CPR after he got knocked from his boat, responders said.
Boccia was pronounced dead at 8:34 p.m., State Police said.
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ALSO SEE: A patrol vehicle hit two girls who were lying on the beach in Ship Bottom, authorities said.
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