Public pools opened on June 27, but Red Hook Pool remains closed. There is no plan to cool off residents lacking access to nearby pools. A pipe crumbled just before Opening Day, delaying repairs and reopening until mid-August, dangerously close to the end of the season. Advocates criticize City Hall for long-term neglect of resource allocation to low-income neighborhoods like Red Hook. The pool's closure is seen as a mirror of broader underfunding for parks and community resources.
"We're all sweltering and there's no pool," said Lisa Meyer, a Red Hook resident for more than 35 years. "They got caught with bad planning and threw the community into an untenable situation."
The pool didn't open on schedule because, according to the Parks Department, a crucial pipe crumbled just before Opening Day, making it impossible for the agency to fill the pool that is a vital public amenity for the 25,000 residents of the pool's catchment area, a low-income region.
The agency says the pool won't open until mid-August, just days before the swimming season ends on Sept. 7 - not a good look for an agency with "recreation" in its official name.
Kathy Park Price, a spokesperson for New Yorkers for Parks, stated, "It's also not an accident that it's in Red Hook - a neighborhood that is constantly overlooked for city resources."
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