Splish, Splash: Fun On The East River
Have you always wanted to shed your inhibitions, specifically by throwing off your clothes and jumping into the East River? If so, were you always dissuaded by the gunk, grime and dead bodies? Then you, my friend, are in luck. Beginning next week, New Yorkers will be able to escape from the summer heat in a new [pool floating on the East River], so you dont have to.
Moored on a barge in Brooklyn Bridge Park Beach, where creators have transformed a 43,000-square-foot parking lot into a sand lot, the pool will open to the public July 4th. From then on, you can swim for free (yay!) 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week through Labor Day. This, according to The New York Sun, marks the first time in 200 years that residents will be able to access the previously industrial area for recreation.
We spoke to Steve Kass, the CEO of American Leisure, which will manage the pool, who has been involved with the project since the beginning. Click [here] for the Q & A.
So, how did you get involved with the project? Ann Buttenwieser, who first came up with the concept, approached me 20 years ago with the idea. She worked on this for all these years and started a not-for-profit foundation (The Neptune Foundation) and raised money to make this happen and saw it all the way through, from design to construction to where it became a reality, which is where I came back in to manage.
What attracted you to the concept? The idea is, if you walk around the shoreline of Manhattan on a summer day, you see all these people looking at it, but they cant swim in it. Were surrounded by water, but we cant swim in it. There is something like this in Paris thats very similar, and it has been very successful.
Arent there enough places to swim in the city, with all the pools and beaches that already exist? What makes this so different? There really arent that many pools to swim in the city. There are some, but there arent many. But I think the magnificence of this is that the setting is second to none. Youre on the harbor, overlooking the sky line of New York, the former World Trade Center site right in view. And I think the nice thing thats happening is that the partner in this is the Brooklyn Park Conservatory, also a not-for-profit. Theres also going to be a beach. At that point in Brooklyn, you could travel to Coney Island. But for people living in that area, such an experience think about ityoud have to be on a luxury liner in a pool to experience the same thing. And here, it will be open to everyone, for free.
Wasnt there a time at the turn of the century when there were 15 pools in the East Riveropen to the public? Yes, but they werent pools, they were just fenced-in areas to swim in.
We also heard that skinny-dipping was pretty popular back then. Any chance this could become a nude pool? [Laughs.] Not with permission. But you never know. Maybe if it were twenty years ago, I would consider it myself. But on a personal note, one of the reasons Im so passionate about this is I started as a lifeguard on Coney Island Beach.
We guess it all comes full circle. But if youre not in the mood to actually swim in the watersuit or no suityou can always take a ride on the citys newest nautical novelty, the sometimes-bus, sometimes-boat AquaBus. The [motorized amphibious vehicle] will drive passengers around midtown and then take a dip in the Hudson River before returning to dry land. And [city pools](http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/facilities/af_pools.html) are set to open tomorrow, so hopefully these alleged thunderstorms ol' weatherman has predicted will come and goor just goby then.