Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Flashback: McCarren Park Pool, 1937
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 4, 2011
Modified Apr 4, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 4, 2011
Modified Apr 4, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
McCarren Park Pool in 1937, one year after opening.
It warmed up today (finally!) and while it's not quite time to take a dip outdoors, let's take a look back at McCarren Park Pool as we await its reopening (in the Spring of 2012, if we're to believe current scheduling plans). The pool first opened in 1936, amidst the Great Depression, and was one of ten pools in the city to be opened by Robert Moses and Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia under the WPA (Works Progress Administration) Program. They were meant to provide recreation and an escape from the economy at the time, but also to generate employment.
The pool was eventually closed in 1984 after the facility suffered from vandalism and became a drug haven (revisit those vintage Bad Old Days in the video below).
Later JellyNYC brought the pool back to life as a concert venue, and soon after they were ousted as the city decided to renovate it (the PlaNYC project overview can be found here). Do you think it will get a 1937-sized crowd upon reopening?
Tagged
brooklyn
flashback
McCarren Park Pool
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 13, 2026 at 3:17 p.m. ET
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Arts & Entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .