New York Operator ‘Dropped the Ball' on Teens' 911 Call

January 28, 2003 -- ONE of the four teens in a sinking rowboat off City Island screamed, "Oh, God! We're going to die!" at the end of a desperate 911 call - but the operator never notified the Harbor Unit, a violation of NYPD procedures, sources said. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly acknowledged the failure to follow guidelines, but said it might not have made a difference - since rescuers were at least 20 minutes from the scene and the teens could have lived only about 15 minutes in the freezing waters.

A senior police official was more blunt about the foul-up:

"Did people make mistakes?" he asked rhetorically. "I think they dropped the ball big time."

But he agreed with Kelly that it probably would not have mattered.

"Even if they had called the Navy and the Marines, these kids would probably have drowned anyway," he said.

Hopes for the teens' survival continued to dim yesterday as searches of nearby islands turned up nothing.

The tragedy unfolded Friday night when Henry Badillo, 17, Andrew Melnikov, 16, Charles Wertenbaker, 16, and Max Guarino, 17, took an 8-foot rowboat out into the icy waters of Long Island Sound.

One of the youths made a 12-second call at 9:58 p.m. as the boat began to sink.

A police source told The Post the call went from "urgent to screaming."

"First you hear