8 NYC public pools open with COVID-19 safety measures
NEW YORK - The heatwave may have mercifully come to an end, but it is still plenty hot outside. To help New Yorkers stay cool, eight public pools across New York City reopened on Friday.
However, just because the pools are open doesn’t mean the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, and there is a long list of procedures in place for visitors to follow.
Still, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the pools should provide some much-needed relief.
The eight pools that will be opening first are:
- Mullaly - Highbridge, Bronx
- Sunset - Sunset Park, Brooklyn
- Kosciuszko - Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
- Wagner - East Harlem, Manhattan
- Liberty - Jamaica, Queens
- Fisher - East Elmhurst, Queens
- Tottenville - Tottenville, Staten Island
- Lyons - Tompkinsville, Staten Island
Lifeguards will be on duty at the pools for the summer, and new safety procedures will include 30 percent capacity limits, enhanced cleaning and sanitary procedures, along with enforcement of social distancing. The pools will be first come, first serve, and no more than 10 members of a family will be allowed inside at a time.
In order to control crowds and long lines, wristbands will be distributed with a specific time for people to get into the pool.
The pools opened at 11 a.m. Friday. Seven more are expected to open on Friday, Aug. 1. They are:
- Bronx - Crotona, Haffen
- Brooklyn - Betsy Head
- Manhattan - Hamilton Fish, Marcus Garvey, Jackie Robinson
- Queens - Astoria