BROOKLYN — The Pop-Up Pool at Brooklyn Bridge Park will return this summer, after winning a one-year extension from the agency overseeing the park, and families are already mounting a campaign to keep a pool in the park beyond this summer.
As park-goers await the beloved Pop Up Pool’s re-opening June 29 — which is when other New York City outdoor pools open, the day after public schools close — parents from the grassroots “Love Our Pool” group are already busy collecting petition signatures to support the pool’s return after this summer.
The Love Our Pool campaign was successful in securing this additional year from the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, but they are worried since there are no commitments for inviting the temporary pool back after 2017. Nor are there formal plans in place for a permanent pool in the park, the group noted.
“There are too few pools in Brooklyn and the loss of this pool in Brooklyn Bridge Park would be a significant loss to the community,” states the petition. It has garnered 1,300 signatures, according to the group.
The pool is relatively small, at 30 by 50 feet, and only reaches 3.5 feet deep, which makes it appealing for families with smaller kids, according to the park's website.
Because of the pool’s size, entry is limited. Only 60 swimmers are allowed at once and their time is limited to 45-minute sessions from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The pool also offers swim lessons.
New Yorkers have been lavishing praise upon the pool.
“This is our go-to pool,” Karen De Ingeniis wrote on the petition. “Our summer would be terrible without it. Please don't take it away without putting in an equally wonderful pool to replace it.”
A spokesman for the park did not address the pool's future, but said, "We're thrilled to welcome families from across the city back to the Pop-Up Pool later this month for another summer."
The Brooklyn Bridge Park Community Advisory Committee, which has been involved in hopes of keeping the pool open, is working closely with the park, Love Our Pool and elected officials to find a permanent replacement pool, said committee co-chair Peter LaBonte.
"Until that is done, no decision has been made on when the pool will be permanently shuttered,” he said. “Until such a decision is made the pool will remain open on a year to year basis as agreed.”
