[Roadcruiser1]

New Public Pool Coming To Brooklyn Bridge Park
Erin Durkin
Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Everybody into the pool, Brooklyn!

A new public pool with killer views of Lower Manhattan and New York Harbor is set to open at Brooklyn Bridge Park this summer.

Officials signed off on a $199,000 deal Wednesday to build the above ground pool in the upland section of Pier 2, where it will sit for at least five years.

The 1,500 square foot, 3.5 foot deep pool, set to open in July, will be surrounded by a deck and a sandy artificial beach with food vendors.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said park spokeswoman Ellen Ryan. “It will be a real destination.”

The pool was added to the park plan as part of a complicated deal struck last year between city officials and local pols to allow housing to be built in the park to to generate cash.

“This coming summer Brooklyn families can dive right in. Brooklyn Bridge Park is already making waves and this pool is certain to make a splash,” said state Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn Heights). “We pushed very, very hard for it and are really pleased that it’s becoming reality.”

The pool will be the only part of the Pier 2 section of the park open this summer. The rest of the pier is under construction.

Chunks of the park already opened at Pier 1 near Old Fulton St. and Pier 6 near Atlantic Ave. have drawn huge crowds for the playgrounds, walking and running trails. sloping lawns and granite staircase. .

Locals have long pushed to get a floating pool, like the wildly popular barge-borne one that docked in the Brooklyn Heights harbor in 2007, stationed at the park.

But that pool, called the Floating Pool Lady, has been relocated to the Bronx. While officials applied for a permit to put one at Brooklyn Bridge Park, it could cost 50 times more than a stationary pool, and they don’t have the $5-10 million they would need.

“A pool for five summers is a big deal. The ultimate goal is a permanent pool in the park. The floating pool was extraordinarily popular, and that’s certainly one of the options,” Squadron said.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012...yn-bridge-park