Windsor Swim Club members demand accountability after health violations close pool

For much of the summer, The Windsor Apartments of Riverdale’s pool at 4705 Henry Hudson Parkway W. remained locked following a New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene closure, leaving members who paid hundreds of dollars for seasonal access watching the swimming season slip away.

Now, weeks after the pool reopened, some members are taking legal action, arguing the 35 percent refund or credit offered by Windsor Apartments, also known as The Windsors Cooperative Apartments, does not adequately compensate them for losing much of the season they paid for. At least one member has filed a claim in Bronx Small Claims Court, and several others told The Press they are preparing to do the same. They argue the Windsor Apartments’s board of directors failed to provide the service they purchased and instead offered what they consider an inadequate refund.

The city’s health department issued 10 violations and ordered the pool closed June 16 after inspectors responded to 311 complaints, later clearing it to open on July 18.

“The NYC Health Department temporarily closed the swimming pool at The Windsors Cooperative Apartments in the Bronx after an inspection on June 16, 2026, identified that the pool operator was not meeting required chlorination levels, posing a risk to swimmers,” the department told The Press.

Inspectors found the pool’s free chlorine level measured zero milligrams per liter while several swimmers were in the water. They also found the pool’s chemical-feeding system was not functioning because chlorine and acid containers connected to the main feeder were empty while operators awaited a chemical delivery. In addition, inspectors determined the pool’s water turnover rate was just 150 gallons per minute — well below the required minimum of 343 gallons per minute.

The Windsor Swim Club, located on the grounds of the apartment complex, serves both residents of the cooperative and the public through seasonal memberships that cost about $803 for non-shareholders. It has long been one of Riverdale’s beloved private outdoor pools open to outside members.

After four nearly pristine summers as a member, Riverdale resident Jamie Kanter said this will be his last.

“It has become more a matter of principle than of financial compensation,” Kanter said. “Businesses and organizations should be held accountable when they fail to provide the services for which people have paid.”

Kanter said calculating refunds based solely on the number of closed days ignores why many families purchase seasonal memberships in the first place.

Rather than visiting throughout the entire summer, many members buy memberships because they expect to spend specific weeks at the pool with children, grandchildren or visiting relatives. Once those weeks passed during the closure, Kanter, other members and some residents said, much of the membership’s value had already been lost.

Problems began before the health department ordered the closure.

Beginning June 4, members received emails announcing delayed openings and unexpected closures because the pool’s management company, USA Pool Management, could not maintain required staffing levels. On June 8, management notified members the pool had closed early because a scheduled lifeguard failed to report for work.

The Press reviewed more than a dozen emails confirming repeated staffing shortages and delayed openings before the city shut the facility down.

The problem, emails show, was largely rooted in the decision to replace Iowa Sports, which operated the pool for more than a decade, with USA Pool Management. According to a June 30 question-and-answer document distributed to members and viewed by The Press, the Windsors’ board of directors sought proposals from several companies after the pool operated at a financial deficit for three consecutive years.

The decision, the board said,  “was not based solely on cost,” though it acknowledged Iowa Sports was “among the more expensive companies.”

Five days after the closure, the Windsor Apartments Board of Directors and ARGO Real Estate, which manages the property, informed members they had switched back to Iowa Sports and reopening the pool was their “absolute highest priority.” The board also told members it was developing a refund policy while focusing first on reopening the facility.

Subsequent updates described contract negotiations, equipment repairs and inspections.

By July 3, the board said Iowa Sports had determined the pool could not safely reopen because its turnover rate and circulation system failed to meet health department requirements. According to the update, contractors had repaired leaking equipment, backwashed filters and verified the flow meter, but additional work was still needed before inspectors would allow swimmers back into the water.

Throughout the closure, Kanter repeatedly requested a full refund. On June 23, Kanter emailed ARGO demanding a full refund of his $803 membership fee, arguing management had accepted payment without providing the service purchased.

Jay Reyes, ARGO’s senior director of client success, responded that the board was working on a refund policy but remained focused on reopening the pool.

After the pool reopened, members were offered either a 35 percent refund by check or a 35 percent credit toward the 2027 season. Over email, the board said the figure reflected the pool being unavailable for 35 of its scheduled 107 operating days.

Charles Quinn, a Windsor resident, said many understand that unexpected problems can arise, but what has frustrated them most is how the situation was managed. Throughout the month-long closure, he said, members received frequent emails describing repairs and reopening efforts, yet questions about refunds and responsibility often went unanswered.

Even after the pool reopened and the board announced a refund policy, Quinn said many members felt the proposal failed to address the broader concerns raised by the shutdown.

“There is a complete dissatisfaction with the way refunds are being handled,” Quinn said. “The communication that’s been going on has completely been lackluster.”

The experience, he added, has left many members wondering how a pool that had operated without health department violations in recent years ended up closed for more than a month during the height of summer. He said members are still looking for a clearer explanation of what went wrong, how it was allowed to happen and who ultimately bears responsibility for preventing it from happening again.

Records reviewed by The Press show at least seven 311 complaints were filed between June 6 and June 13, before the health department inspection that resulted in the closure.

Some members have also questioned the board’s decision to change pool vendors before the season. Kanter said he believes selecting a less expensive operator contributed to the problems that followed. 

The Riverdale Press reached out to ARGO Senior Director of Client Success Jay Reyes, Windsor Apartments Board President Debra Levy, the Windsor Apartments Board of Directors, USA Management and Iowa Sports seeking comment. None responded by press time.