Dive Brief:
- New York City is one step closer to building a plus-shaped floating pool in the East River, with officials announcing on Wednesday that the swimming facility will be located at Pier 35, near Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
- Since the pool is to be filled with filtered river water, the city and New York state are also funding a water filtration demonstration project at Pier 35 starting this month, according to a press release.
- The pool is expected to be ready for final testing in the summer of 2025. Its opening will expand recreation opportunities and help keep people cool amid increasingly hot weather driven by climate change, officials said in statements.
Dive Insight:
The idea for “+POOL” originated in 2010 from the brain of architect Dong-Ping Wong, according to a press release by Friends of +POOL, a nonprofit formed in 2015 to lead the project effort.
The +POOL concept envisions four pools in one, with areas for lap swimming, lounging, water sports and children’s activities. The pool’s filtration system will meet water quality standards without using chemical disinfectants. The city and state have invested $16 million in the project, The New York Times reports.
This week’s announcement comes amid New York’s push to expand access to swimming. In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled more than $150 million in available grants to help localities build out public pools, drive pool design innovation and deploy pop-up above-ground pools in response to extreme heat. The program “is the largest statewide investment in swimming since the New Deal, and we’re increasing access to pools while helping our kids learn how to stay safe in the water,” Hochul said in a statement on Wednesday.
Some residents are looking forward to the planned +POOL. “Residents of the Lower East Side/Two Bridges neighborhood have been waiting for decades to re-engage with their waterfront in a meaningful way,” resident Frank Avila-Goldman said in a statement.
Friends of +POOL said in a news release that the project will be the first to get a permit for river swimming in the city’s harbor but that its work could offer a path for others with similar ideas.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the day that New York City officials announced the location of the +POOL project. The announcement was made on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
