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Renaming Pool: What Would Senator McCarren Do?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 29, 2009
Modified Jun 29, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 29, 2009
Modified Jun 29, 2009
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Earlier this month it was announced that naming rights to certain locations around the city would be up for grabs to anyone with a few million bucks. Of course the city needs money, but is it right to strip away the history behind certain places? The Brooklyn Paper reports that there's some uproar over the re-naming of McCarren Park Pool, which might go on the block for $3 million, originally named for Senator Henry Patrick McCarren (D-Greenpoint). The Pool Aid folks have set up a petition, currently holding about 165 signatures, and the founder told the paper, “This is not a rootless community that just sprang up. We have a history, and we are seeing it just torn down before our eyes everyday. He is an important guy, he is a benefactor to this community, and he deserves to have his name on the institutions he worked to create." McCarren died in 1909, and you can learn more about his life and death in his New York Times obituary, as well as this Bowery Boys profile.
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brooklyn
greenpoint
Henry Patrick McCarren
mccarren pool
naming rights
williamsburg
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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