NEW YORK - A 5-foot-long shark that washed up on a crowded New York City beach this weekend - and was pushed back into the sea by beachgoers - is dead.

The shark frightened crowds at Rockaway Beach on Saturday morning when it splashed to shore.

The thresher shark was not believed to be threatening to humans, but it sent hundreds of swimmers out of the water and closed over 10 blocks of the beach for hours on Labor Day weekend.

After the shark came ashore at Beach 109th Street and Rockaway Boulevard, several beachgoers pushed the fish back into the water. “It was like freaking out. Its tail was flopping everywhere,” 10-year-old McKenzie Pontieri said in Sunday editions of the Daily News. “Maybe it got separated from its family. It looked sick.”

The dead fish washed ashore at Beach 113th Street at 6 a.m. Sunday, city officials said.

That section of the beach had already been closed, as lifeguards watched the fish swimming near the shore for several hours beforehand.

Beaches, which had remained closed since the shark sighting, reopened Sunday morning.

“It is now safe to go back into the water,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.