Another lost summer.
Village residents were dizzy when they discovered they would go another year without a beloved neighborhood pool, famous for a Keith Haring mural, that has been closed for five years.
The pool at the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center, which is still “in need of major renovations,” was a staple of the community sandwiched between Greenwich Village and Hudson Square before being closed for repairs in 2019.
Resident Kitty Hegeman, who had used the pool for a decade, decried the fact that progress seemed slow at the site since it closed five years ago.
“Years and years go by and nothing happens,” Hegeman told the Post. “Every summer the situation seems worse.
“It’s just a waste to stay there for so long.” If you don’t want to solve this problem, make it useful,” she added.
Plans for a $4 million renovation of the recreation center began in 2017, but the amount quickly ballooned to a budget of $17 million, with only 72% of construction completed by May 2024, according to the parks department from the city.
“This is one of our highest priorities and is under close review,” Mayor Eric Adam’s office said in a statement. “We are evaluating several scenarios to ensure we make the best investment for the neighborhood, maximizing leisure spaces in a cost-effective manner. »
But residents say they feel the pool is anything but a priority for the fifth summer in a row as they are told to go and use other facilities instead.
“It’s horrible,” said Cristinia Diaz, 41, who lives in the neighborhood with her two young sons. “They need to fix it.
“The damage caused by the closure defeats the purpose of rapid repair: if you leave it long enough, it deteriorates and takes longer to repair,” she added.
Becca Quinn, 35, said the pool was once the pride of the neighborhood, alongside the mural of Haring, the city artist whose pop art popularized the Big Apple’s graffiti style in the 1980s.
Quinn called the pool’s current condition an “outrage and a disservice” to the community, adding that she now sees cracks and peeling paint on the mural despite the city’s insistence on that she closely monitors the work of art.
“They can’t get out of it. It looks horrible,” Quinn said. “Everything here is expensive and people work very hard to live here… they should have access to these services. »
Several other residents expressed frustration with the closed pool and feared the lack of summer amenities would have negative consequences for children.
“In the summer, we need services for children so that they have something to do, that they are occupied and that they are not hanging around… that they are in a structured and supervised environment,” said the resident Andrew Leong.
Lloyd Dennis, 58, agrees, pointing out that parents need places like the pool and recreation center to keep their children occupied.
“You’re going to have a lot of kids running around without guidance, you know, expect the crime rate to increase like it usually does in the summer,” he said.
With the pool closed for another summer, the city has asked residents to head to the Hamilton Fish Pool, located at 128 Pitt St., to fill their needs, but many have complained that the alternative is already too busy and away.
“I want it back,” Hegeman said of the Tony Dapolito pool. “A public outdoor swimming pool in the village would be wonderful.”
With reporting by Craig McCarthy and Alex Oliveira
New York Post
