It’s another hot week as temperatures reach dangerous levels across New York City. As a result, some families are cooling down at free city pools. During this most recent heatwave, the Epicenter NYC team has heard from community members that most neighborhood pools have long lines.
We wanted to understand what they were experiencing, so on Tuesday, we checked out various pools in Queens and Manhattan. We found that the lines will likely be shorter if families go to the pool in the morning. We also found that some families were avoiding pools closer to them and instead going to other neighborhoods where the pools are nicer.
Our first stop was the John Jay Pool on the Upper East Side. By the time it opened at 11 a.m., a line stretched from the entrance in the middle of the park and formed a slight L-shape around the corner. Some people sat on the ground while waiting in the shaded area.
We spoke to Zulma Torruella, who doesn’t live on the Upper East Side but brought her brother to John Jay Pool. She says it was worth the commute because this pool has better amenities than the one closer to her.
“We’re from the Bronx. We do have some pools around there but I feel like we don’t have enough room so every pool is crowded. Around this time, the line will be double as long versus here. I wanted to travel out here for the sake of peace,” she said.
Torruella says she often finds that the pools in the Bronx are so crowded that people waiting in line are denied entry and have to wait until the next entrance session time.
John Jay Pool workers started letting people in at 11:05 a.m.; by 11:15 a.m., the line cleared out.
One pool park worker told us that during the week, they typically see 140 people in line at the opening.
Betty Defranco, who lives on the Upper West Side, brought her teenage son and daughter to John Jay Pool. She said that the pool closest to them was closed for renovations but she also prefers coming to this pool because she likes the safety and atmosphere of the surrounding neighborhood. The elevated setting overlooks the East River and Roosevelt Island skyline.
“The pool’s clean and it’s sanitary, and the showers have hot water. And they actually have crowd control so you know they’re following the correct policies,” Defranco said.
We then went to Astoria Pool and arrived around 12:50 p.m. Initially, there wasn’t much of a wait, but people started to trickle in within a few minutes. That line was still short – roughly 20 people – and moved quickly.
Disky Zoysa said it was their first time at a public pool.
“We came from Flushing because it’s hot! And it’s the only pool that’s close by and the bus is not too far from us,” she said.
Although the commute was over 40 minutes, Zoysa and her daughter didn’t mind because the bus was air-conditioned. Her daughter marveled at the size of the pool. The Olympic-sized outdoor pool is 330 by 165 feet.
While one Epicenter team member was checking out John Jay and Astoria pools, another team member went to Liberty Pool in Jamaica. It didn’t open until 11:18 a.m. and its lines also moved quickly.
A parks department worker told us that the lines usually get longer in the later afternoon, especially when they close it between 3 and 4 p.m. for cleaning. He says the line forms during that time and goes pretty far down the block.
We also checked out Fischer Pool in East Elmhurst at various times throughout the day. At 11 a.m., less than a dozen people were waiting in line, by 3 p.m. the line was longer, with about 40 people, and at 6 p.m. there were more than 100 people waiting to get in before it closed at 8 p.m.
We want to see your photos at neighborhood pools! Please share them with us on social media so we can highlight summer fun in the boroughs.
Plus, if your child is a second grader or younger, they may be eligible to get free swimming lessons in Jackson Heights.
Check out this other story on staying cool in this hot weather.
Thank you for your help. It’s nice to have someone with correct knowledge.