YORKVILLE — Members of a local New York Sports Club fear their pool will shutter for good after a series of unexplained closures this summer, they said.
The indoor pool at the 1637 Third Ave. gym, located in the Ruppert Yorkville Towers Complex for a couple of decades, was closed without notice for several days over the past couple of months, including on days scheduled for hour-long water-aerobics classes, according to members.
The pool was randomly closed from June 23 to June 25, on July 6, July 23 and on July 28, members noted.
Uncertainty over the pool has driven at least a handful of members to quit the club, members said last week. Only three NYSC locations in the city have a pool, including the Upper East Side club, which is the only one with a pool on the East Side.
"There was no sympathy or empathy," said member Suzan Fruchtman about the closure on July 23. "It was the hottest day of the year. People were told there would be class and people drove or took the train for an hour to come to this. Are they trying to dissuade us? Are they trying to show that no one uses the pool to report to corporate so they can close it?"
NYSC spokeswoman Lisa Hufcut denied that there are any plans to shutter the pool, saying the closures have been for maintenance — to "shock it with chlorine" — or because of staffing issues.
But the lack of notice and communication from the gym is what's unsettling members.
Regular swimmers at the pool have already been anxious about the fate of the pool, after the club nearly canceled its weekly water-aerobics class last year citing low attendance.
Fruchtman, who has been going to the pool for the past 18 years, said she and other members were ultimately able to convince management to keep the class open.
For longtime member Ruth Altmann, the pool is crucial because it's a safe way to exercise with her minor heart issues.
"It's one of those luxuries we're here for," she said. "There's no other pool like this one in size, and it's not only for old folks."
