The Van Cortlandt Park pool opened just in time for the summer’s second heat wave.
Those lucky enough to get in early on the scorching opening day on June 28 had to file past a parks employee who recorded their entry on a handheld attendance clicker. Once the metallic clacks reached 682, she politely asked the next visitors to form a line.
Ten at a time were allowed in, as demand remained high throughout the day.
“The pool is better than the beach,” said Jason Pita, 30, who brought his family, with two young children, to the pool for a picnic. He doesn’t like sand, and said that he appreciates the pool because it is safe and clean.
“I’m here hoping to get a tan,” said Zenovia Meledez, 17, as the temperatures crept into the 90s. “Last year we were here every day.”
As young and old traded in and out of the crystal blue waters, boys wrestled and roughoused as an occasional lifeguard whistle rang out.
The pool area also offers a wading pool, popular for parents and toddlers and two beach volleyball courts.
Van Cortlandt Park pool, the first ever Olympic-sized pool contructed in the city, and one of 52 city pools constructed by a collaboration between the Parks Department and the Public Works Administration in the early 1970s, is open every day until Labor Day.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a one-hour break for pool cleaning between 3 p.m. and 4 pm. The facility is located at West 242nd St and Broadway.
For swimmers 18 years or older, the park offers Lap Swim for early risers (7 to 8:30 a.m.) and night paddlers (7 a.m. to dusk). The program begins Thursday, July 5. Registration can be completed poolside until Labor Day during Lap Swim hours.
Parks will also continue the free Learn to Swim program for children and youth aged 1-1/2– to 14–years–old. The program will be held in three three-week sessions between Friday, July 6 and Friday, August 31.
For more information about the Park’s free swimming programs, call Citywide Aquatics, at 718-760-6969.
