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Pool party! Brooklyn Bridge Park seeks new swimming hole

By Andy Campbell
The Brooklyn Paper
Julienne Schaer
Most everyone loved the floating pool three summers ago at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Now, officials want to bring a new pier pool back. All it'll take is money...

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Brooklyn Bridge Park is one step closer to getting a pool.

Park officials announced that they’re applying to dock a brand new floating pool at the yet-to-be-built Pier 5 just north of Atlantic Avenue.

Brooklyn Conservatory

It’s the first talk of the amenity since the city took over the $350-million park last year. But there’s one problem — the park doesn’t yet have the $5-10 million it needs to build out the dock where the pool would moor.

“We look forward to working with elected officials and [the city] to make this amenity a reality,” said Ellen Ryan, a spokeswoman for Brooklyn Bridge Park. “[The park already] hosted a floating pool in the summer of 2007 with great success.”

Success, indeed — the hugely popular “Floating Pool Lady” served almost 50,000 people on the Brooklyn Heights waterfront during the summer of 2007. After that cool summer, a Bronx park got the floating pool.

Luckily, local electeds are already rallying behind the park’s own new amenity, which would be welcome addition to a popular park space that still lacks what park-goers look for — a large array of things to do.

“It is a lot of money, but … a pool is an important amenity,” state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn Heights) told the Daily News, which reported a piece of the story.

A timeline is not yet set for the pool’s construction, assuming that all the paperwork goes through. The build-out of Pier 5 isn’t clear, either — financing is still being lined up for Piers 2 through 5.

That said, park officials have some momentum going in terms of amenities for Piers 1 and 6. They secured funding for a $5-million footbridge from Squibb Park in Brooklyn Heights to the park last year; are currently looking for an operator of a restaurant space on Pier 6; finished the bike path from one end of the park to the other; and plan to build out the rest of Pier 6’s features, including volleyball, this year.

And tetherball, a beloved, iconic city game, is still a go for Pier 2, we’ve confirmed.

©2011 Community Newspaper Group

←Bay Ridge: Grimm takes over — and first vote slams constituents, critics charge
→Park Slope: Ain’t it ‘Grand’? Prospect Hall plans 11-story hotel

Reader Feedback

Ron from Cobble Hill says:
This is not the first talk of the pool at the park since the city took over. It has been talked about a lot. The news is they filed for a permit -- and do not have the money.
Jan. 10, 2011, 7:43 am
Joe from Gowanus says:
Summer of 2007 was amaziing with this pool! Hey Governor Cuomo, help us dock this pool!

First, fix the DEC, who takes 2-5 years to review permits! $10M is not the issue - we'll raise the money but receiving a DEC permit is the main barrier. The fish will LOVE the shade of the pool!
Jan. 10, 2011, 9:31 am
Ben from Brooklyn Heights says:
We have NO aquatics center in downtown brooklyn and no plans for one with all of the development downtown in the past 20 years we still have no aquatics center - we need a BIG pool like Asphalt Green East Side of Manhattan only run well Asphalt Green pool is run poorly. NOT a health club or hotel pool but a real Aquatics Center 50 meters long 12 feet deep a big pool.
Jan. 18, 2011, 1:10 pm

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