Red Hook Pool Stays Shut Until Late July as 100-Degree Heat Bears Down
Updated
Updated · Gothamist · Jun 30
Red Hook Pool Stays Shut Until Late July as 100-Degree Heat Bears Down
3 articles · Updated · Gothamist · Jun 30
Summary
Late July is now the earliest reopening target for Brooklyn’s Olympic-sized Red Hook pool after a flooded filter plant ruined motors and other equipment just before the season began.
The closure leaves a neighborhood anchored by Brooklyn’s largest public housing complex without a free swimming option as temperatures are forecast to top 100 degrees over the July 4 weekend under an extreme heat warning.
Residents arriving Monday found only spray showers and an empty basin, reviving anger after the pool was closed for most of last summer because of a broken pipe.
Parks officials directed swimmers to the Douglass & Degraw pool 1.5 miles away, but that site also shut Monday afternoon after a feces incident before reopening was planned for Tuesday.
The 90-year-old facility typically draws about 40,000 summer visitors, and advocates said repeated outages during extreme heat have become a public-safety issue.