After being closed for most of the summer season, the Red Hook Pool finally reopened on Sunday.
While the majority of the city’s public pools opened at the end of June, the Red Hook Pool, which had a delayed opening set for mid-July due to prolonged reconstruction on a drainage pipe, remained closed due to a rupture in a waterline.
Elected officials, community leaders and park advocates gathered on Friday to celebrate the opening of the pool that serves one of Brooklyn’s underserved neighborhoods.
“This reopening is more than just turning the taps back on- it’s restoring a space where neighbors cool off, kids learn to swim, and the whole community comes together,” said Kathy Park Price, director of Advocacy & Policy at New Yorkers for Parks. “We’re happy to see the pool back in use, but this summer’s closure is a reminder that our city must invest more in the ongoing maintenance of our pools and recreation centers before they reach a breaking point.”
Alan Mukamal, the founder of Friends of Red Hook Pool, said he was “beyond disappointed” when he learned that the pool, considered part of the city's cooling center options, would be shut down for a large part of the summer.
“It meant that thousands of residents would have to sweat out the summer of 2025 with no cooling relief from the pool. It meant that scores of Red Hook youth would not have an opportunity to learn to swim this year. It meant that swimmers would have to look elsewhere to fulfill their need for fitness and emotional well-being,” he said.
Mukamal thought it was fitting that the pool finally reopened on Sunday, Aug. 17, the same day when the pool originally opened in 1936 to a crowd of nearly 40,000 people.
The Red Hook Pool and the adjacent Sol Goodman Recreation Center are slated for a $120 million comprehensive renovation, a project already delayed.
Council Member Alexa Avilés said that the pool’s repair took longer than expected due to many factors, including extensive damage from Hurricane Sandy. Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave funds to help fix some of the mechanical issues from the pipe burst, it wasn’t enough, she said.
“Red Hook has suffered from a history of under-investment in infrastructure repair and resiliency,” she said. “I am committed to advocating for a continued focus on Red Hook’s infrastructure maintenance and building resiliency in the neighborhood for many years to come.”
