The Red Hook Pool is an essential community asset. Since the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020, the “Early Bird” and “Night Owl” Lap swim 1 and Learn to Swim programs have been suspended or diminished. This year, without warning, the Red Hook Pool remained closed until August 17 due to an undetected pipe burst, giving community members barely 3 weeks of usage. Red Hook deserves better. Now we are on the verge of rebuilding the pool and rec center, a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
We formed the Friends of Red Hook Pool because we know that the pool can be much more than a cooling center. Swimming is not only a way to stay cool, but can be key to one’s mental and physical health 2. Many of our children learned to swim at the Red Hook pool. A passion for swimming developed at a young age is not a luxury; it is an important life skill, which many New York City residents lack. 3.
NYC should not take for granted its unique legacy of outdoor pools, but rather celebrate and enhance them. NYC has produced Olympic swimmers (Lia Neal being the most recent example), and we have the infrastructure to produce many more. With political momentum focusing on affordable housing and the BMT project looming, we need better and more opportunities for our residents to access pools.
We have compiled the following list of requests to consider when designing this important rebuild for our community.
Long-term Objectives to Guide the Design
Red Hook has no indoor pools, either free or for paid membership. The Red Hook Pool goals should include year-round swimming. Year-round swimming would provide an opportunity to teach swimming to all Red Hook youth through DOE programs. The redesign should at the very least consider year-round swimming as a future objective. Here are some ideas to consider for consistent, year-round swimming:
- Rebuild the pool in two or three independently-functioning, contiguous sections, with walls between them. If one breaks down or is contaminated, the other(s) could still be functional. A removable covering (e.g., “tennis bubble”) over one section could be added to enable a year-round swimming season
- Add a separate 25-yard indoor pool to the Red Hook Rec Center, like the ones in Williamsburg, Greenwich Village, or West Side.
Simple Design Changes to Make Red Hook Pool Better Serve the Community
- Permanent Lap lanes
- Lines on the pool bottom and lane separators
- Lap lanes should be in parts of the pool that are always open even if/when a reduced pool area is open due to lifeguard shortages
- Remove the old “islands” that are no longer functional and are an impediment for lap swimming and create visual obstacles for lifeguards
- On-deck enclosed changing area and showers (like Sunset Park). Lockers should be large enough to fit bags, bike helmets and briefcases as people are often on their way to/from work.
- Larger ramp (e.g. width of pool) on one side of the pool
- Allows handicap and elderly with wheelchairs to enjoy the pool
- Creates a shallower place for little children to play/wade
- Shaded area to wait in line for pool admittance. Attendees should not be asked to wait in the hot sun
- Open an entrance to the pool from the houses’ side (Lorraine St).
- Enhance the Spray Pad area
- The Sprinkler / Water feature areas should not require pool entry (e.g., like Sunset Park)
- Shaded areas with benches for parents/caregivers
- Include water slides, water cannons, hoses and other fun toys
- Re-introduce a picnic area to this part of the pool. They used to distribute free lunches to kids and allowed people to eat here.
- Improve/beautify the landscape in and around the pool area.
Rec Center Enhancements
- Open the bathrooms on the Lorraine St. side, so residents need not enter the Rec Center to use the toilets
- Separate the locker rooms and changing areas from the gym spaces
- Replace prison style toilets with ones that have actual seats (like other pools have)
- Modernize the Rec Center with skylights to bring more daylight into the building.
- Add bike racks near (all) entrance(s) to support 50+ bikes, preferably covered and equipped with security cameras
Rethink Rules and Operations
Operational changes would provide an enhanced experience for all users
- Restore Early Bird and Night Owl lap swim programs immediately (next year)
- Enhance the Learn to Swim program, more slots, more participation; include lifeguard training and certification programs
- Extend the season (open June through Sept)
- Allow lap swimmers to use props – many swimmers use kick boards, swim buoys, fins, paddles and fitness watches. Ideally, the Pool itself could supply kickboards and swim buoys
- Mark Lap lanes in terms of swimmer speed (e.g., slow, medium, fast) and provide lap swim etiquette guidelines on signs in swim areas
Interim Usage
With construction assumed to take two years, beginning in 2027 or 2028, Red Hook needs temporary alternatives.
- Provide a temporary pool in Red Hook (e.g., a “dumpster pool”)
- Move one of the two floating pools (the new Plus Pool or Barretto Point Park Pool in the Bronx) to Red Hook, with access off Columbia St.
- Make a piece of the pool temporarily functional during reconstruction by walling it off and utilizing the Plus Pools portable filtration system for temporary service in a sealed off piece of Red Hook Pool. If the pool is rebuilt in sections (see Long-Term Objectives at top), one section could be brought on line between seasons. This idea has a lot of upside going forward as maintenance can be staggered and in the long run (when more money can be allocated), one section could become year round by putting a dome (“tennis bubble”) over it.
2 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/well/mind/swimming-anxiety-race-mental-health.html