Community Corner

McCarren Pool Safe, NYPD Says

Following fights and arrests opening week, increased police presence has kept the Greenpoint swimming oasis calm and cool.

 

For those interested in trying out the renovated McCarren Park Pool, but wary due to a series of fights and arrests opening week—splash away, an NYPD officer says.

Prospect Heights Community Affairs Officer Tania Salters said that after a fight June 29 and three arrests July 2, NYPD presence at the pool was increased to keep the peace.

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“There will be no issues there—there are a lot of police,” she said.

So far it’s been working. Other than a pool evacuation due to poop on July 10, things have been calm.

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The pool was opened in 1936 along with 10 others as part of a New Deal WPA project, but was closed in 1984 after years of neglect and lack of repairs. On June 28 it re-opened with a full renovation in which the historic bathhouse building and archway were preserved, according to the New York City Parks Department

The New York Times article cited above also includes a very interesting history on the pool.

Want to swim closer to home? See 

Salters says that the 37,950-squre-foot pool is well worth the trip, praising its six-inch wading section and sprinkler area for kids, clean locker rooms and sand volleyball court.

With a capacity of 1,500 people, the pool also has eight lap lanes and an adjoining recreation center with a cardio room, computer center and indoor volleyball court.

A Daily News column called the pool “a summer oasis of peace and calm.” Columnist Dennis Hammill describes an idyllic scene:

Then we stepped out to a sprawling public pool that was bluer than the azure Brooklyn sky. Lifeguards in orange gear sat in 10 high chairs shaded by orange umbrellas, with more lifeguards patrolling the pool edge.

We circled the quarter-full pool from the six-inch-deep baby wading area to the three- and four-foot adult section. Whole families splashed together. Older people bobbed by the edges. Couples sunbathed together on the stone deck. Muscle guys and bikini girls — black, Hispanic, white, Asian — paraded past, exchanging smiles, shiny with oil.

It was the dance of life on a sunny day.

To correct , Salters tells us that contrary to word on the poolside, the rule that swimmers can only wear white t-shirts is the pool is not to prohibit gang colors, but to keep dyes from running in the pool.

McCarren Park Pool is located at 475 Lorimer St, between Bayard St. and Driggs Ave (take the G to Nassau Avenue). Like all NYC public pools it is free and open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Make sure to bring a lock to store your belongings. (See all the pool rules here.)


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