Mayor Mamdani Kicks Off Outdoor Pool Season, Celebrates 90 Years of Public Pools with Free Swimming for New Yorkers

NEW YORK – Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and NYC Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura right now joined native households to leap into the Thomas Jefferson Pool in East Harlem and have a good time the opening of the 2026 outside pool season. This summer season additionally marks the ninetieth anniversary of the City’s 11 Olympic-sized public swimming pools constructed via the Works Progress Administration (WPA), with expanded swim programming bringing much more New Yorkers into the water.

“There’s a reason outdoor pool opening day is marked with fanfare every year: our public pools are beloved places to cool off on hot days, make memories with friends and learn the lifelong skill of swimming,” mentioned Mayor Mamdani. “Ninety years ago, our City opened 11 massive Olympic-sized outdoor public pools to provide safe recreation for working New Yorkers. That legacy reminds us what government can achieve when it invests in great public works projects. I’m proud to be one of the more than a million New Yorkers who will enjoy our pools this summer and hope our neighbors are ready to pack their swimsuits and jump in!”

“It’s time for families to put on their swimsuits, dig up their goggles and pack their towels for a day at the pool, because summer is here in New York City!” mentioned Deputy Mayor for Operations Julia Kerson. “There’s no better way to cool off in the sun than to take a dip in one of our many outdoor pools that are now open for New Yorkers to enjoy. Thank you to the Parks workers and lifeguards who make our parks and pools possible every day.”

“Our outdoor pools are synonymous with summer in New York City. They’re where children first learn to swim, and where New Yorkers can go to beat the heat, stay fit and connect with each other, all for free,” mentioned NYC Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura. “We’re thrilled to kick off another season at our outdoor pools and to provide even more New Yorkers with essential water safety skills and fitness opportunities thanks to expanded programming. We’re also celebrating the 90th anniversary of our WPA-era pools, shining examples of how incredible public works can serve New Yorkers, generation after generation.”

This summer season, NYC Parks is increasing its fashionable grownup lap swim program from 5 to 10 swimming pools — two in every borough. Lap swim might be obtainable Monday via Friday from 7 to eight:30 a.m., giving fitness-minded New Yorkers devoted time within the water earlier than the swimming pools open for common swimming. Participating swimming pools embrace Claremont and Van Cortlandt within the Bronx; Kosciuszko and McCarren in Brooklyn; Gottesman and Hamilton Fish in Manhattan; Astoria and Liberty in Queens; and Faber and Lyons on Staten Island.

Senior Splash additionally returns this summer season to 5 outside swimming pools, one in every borough, providing free water aerobics lessons for New Yorkers 62 and older. Classes might be held three days per week at Astoria, Lyons, Sunset Park, Thomas Jefferson and Van Cortlandt swimming pools.

Earlier this month, Mayor Mamdani and Commissioner Shimamura introduced the enlargement of free summer season Learn to Swim lessons from 10 to 18 outside swimming pools, creating greater than 16,000 class slots. The program offers free swim classes for youngsters ages 18 months to 17 years, saving households lots of of {dollars} whereas serving to younger New Yorkers construct lifelong water security expertise. Registration is open now.

More info on swim programming is obtainable on the Parks website. Summer aquatics applications run from July 6 via Aug. 28.

About NYC Parks Outdoor Pools

The City’s free outside swimming pools are open each day from June 27 via Sept. 13. Mini swimming pools will shut Sept.7.

Pools are open from 11 a.m. via 7 p.m. each day, with a break for cleansing from 3 to 4 p.m. Admission is free and open to all. Visitors ought to deliver a swimsuit, towel and a sturdy lock for locker room storage. Free sunscreen is obtainable at each outside pool.

NYC Parks will once more companion with the Department of Education to offer free lunches at pool websites throughout town. Meals can be found to all New Yorkers 18 and youthful, with no identification or registration required.

Visit the Parks Outdoor Pools web page for extra info and discover the Cool It! NYC map to search out swimming pools, spray showers, ingesting fountains and different cooling assets throughout the 5 boroughs.

About the ninetieth Anniversary of WPA-era Pools

This summer season, NYC Parks is celebrating the ninetieth anniversary of town’s WPA-era swimming pools.

In 1936, 11 Olympic-sized outside swimming pools had been opened inside weeks of each other as a part of one of many largest public works initiatives in metropolis historical past, funded via the federal WPA. At the time, they represented a few of the most superior public leisure amenities within the nation, that includes state-of-the-art design, filtration and chlorination.

To have a good time the milestone, NYC Parks will distribute commemorative towels and collectible buttons that depict the distinctive design of every pool. The first 200 friends on every pool’s anniversary date will obtain the objects.

The 11 WPA-era swimming pools embrace:  

• Astoria Pool, Queens: Opened July 2, 1936, Astoria stays New York City’s largest pool and hosted the U.S. Olympic Swim and Diving Team Trials in 1936 and 1964.
• Betsy Head Pool, Brooklyn: Opened Aug. 6, 1936, changing a pool at courting to 1915. Before 1936, it was certainly one of solely two outside swimming pools within the Parks system.
• Crotona Pool, the Bronx: Opened July 24, 1936. Its bathhouse options WPA-era animal sculptures created by Frederick George Richard Roth that stay seen right now.
• Hamilton Fish Pool, Manhattan: Opened June 24, 1936. The U.S. Olympic Team skilled right here earlier than the 1952 Helsinki Games.
• Highbridge Pool, Manhattan: Opened July 14, 1936, adjoining to the historic High Bridge Water Tower on the location of the previous High Bridge Reservoir.
• Jackie Robinson Pool, Manhattan: Opened Aug. 8, 1936, as “Colonial Park Pool.” The dedication ceremony featured Bill “Bojangles” Robinson performing “Battle Hymn of the Republic” earlier than a crowd of 25,000.
• Joseph H. Lyons Pool, Staten Island: Opened July 7, 1936. At the dedication, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia referred to as the power “a monument to the progressive government which would not and could not see unemployed men on the breadline.”
• McCarren Pool, Brooklyn: Opened July 31, 1936. Designed to accommodate 6,800 bathers without delay, its bathhouse stays one of many largest within the Parks system.
• Red Hook Pool, Brooklyn: Opened Aug. 17, 1936, earlier than a crowd of 40,000. The New York Times referred to as it “Red Hook’s event of the year.”
• Sunset Park Pool, Brooklyn: Opened July 20, 1936, when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia dramatically switched on the pool’s underwater lighting system.
• Thomas Jefferson Pool, Manhattan: Opened June 27, 1936, earlier than roughly 10,000 individuals who gathered to have a good time what was described as “the last word in engineering, hygiene and construction.”

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