By Angelica Acevedo
It’s time to bring out your bathing suits and floaties.
New York City’s Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, Councilman Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria) and local children celebrated the city’s public pools opening Wednesday at the Astoria Pool.
“Today we’re kicking off another fun and safe summer of swimming at the city’s biggest and most popular outdoor pool,” Silver said. “This year, our pools are open even longer into the season, so there’s more time to cool off or exercise.”
The New York City community will be able to enjoy the 53 pools located throughout the five boroughs as of Thursday. The outdoor swimming pools will open seven days a week, at no cost to the public, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a break for pool cleaning from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The outdoor pools that people may visit in Queens are Astoria Pool, Fort Totten Pool, Fisher Pool, Liberty Pool, Marie Curie Park Pool, PS 186 Playground Pool and Windmuller Pool.
All Olympic and intermediate-sized pools will remain open until Sept. 10 — as an extension of the traditional Labor Day conclusion.
Constantinides welcomed all New Yorkers to enjoy the city’s pools, adding that he was “proud to open this year’s summer pool season at Astoria Pool, one of the largest public pools in our city.”
NYC Parks also installed free sunscreen dispensers and will provide free broad-spectrum SPF 50 sunscreen at its outdoor pools. According to NYC Parks, the American Academy of Dermatology, in partnership with Sun Shield, donated 300 liters of sunscreen and dispensers for the pilot expansion.
The initiative was first launched by Bright Guard in May at various NYC beaches in an effort to combat the national average of 1 in 5 people who are diagnosed with some form of skin cancer, according to NYC Parks.
In addition, kids under 18 may receive free meals, not only at all city swimming pools, but also at all city parks, provided by the USDA through SchoolFood under the city Department of Education.
For more information about pool times, summer learning programs and safety tips, visit nycgo
