Mayor Michael Bloomberg (at right in photo 3), Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe (at podium) and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (at left in first photo) kicked off the city’s summer pool season in grand fashion last Thursday, June 28 with the opening of the renovated McCarren Park Pool on the Greenpoint/Williamsburg border. Benepe claimed that the pool was one of 11 opened by Robert Moses in 1936 in part to provide a safer location for city swimmers than the East River. The pool was closed in 1984 and reopened in 2005 as a concert venue, but will now function as a pool once again after a $50 million renovation that includes an indoor fitness center, computer lab and community room. The landmarked site will also accommodate an ice skating rink in the winter. According to Bloomberg, the pool “has an illustrious past and a bright future.” In lieu of a ribbon-cutting, Benepe joined young swimmers in an opening lap from one end of the pool to the other (photos 2 and 4). All 55 city pools will be open until Labor Day.
