You are reading

Vaunted $67M Flushing Pool to Finally Reopen for a Quick Dip — Then Close Again

The Flushing Meadows Corona Park Pool & Rink has been closed during the COVID pandemic. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

Logo for THE CITY
This article was originally published by The CITY on Dec.8 
BY 

A Queens public pool that’s been closed since before the pandemic due to a crumbling roof is set to reopen early next year with a ceiling netting to catch flaking concrete.

But the reopening of the $67 million Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatic Center will be only temporary, according to the city Department of Parks and Recreation. The pool will close again after officials can figure out designs for a reconstructed roof.

The center — which houses a pool integral to New York City’s failed 2012 Olympic bid and an ice rink managed by a private operator — will undergo a “full renovation,” but not until blueprints for a new roof are ready, a Parks official acknowledged.

The pool originally shuttered on Jan. 13, 2020, for what the parks department said at the time would be “at least six weeks” for “emergency repairs” to the roof.

During a virtual City Council oversight hearing Tuesday on improving access to recreational programs and facilities amid the pandemic, Deputy Commissioner of Parks Margaret Nelson announced a vague date for when swimmers might be able to get back in the water.

“It will reopen in January, February, sometime in the new year,” she said. “We will keep it open until that larger project starts, which is yet to be determined.”

Wrecked Centers

THE CITY previously reported that despite the architecturally ambitious center’s closure, as many as a dozen workers showed up daily even though no swimmers were present.

Of the Parks Department’s 36 recreation centers citywide, 28 are currently open. That’s up from the initial 13 centers that reopened in June to existing members. Facilities opened to new members as well starting in September — with one year’s free membership as an enticement. The free memberships are available for new registrants through the end of 2021.

But the Flushing center is one of five currently closed for capital construction projects.

Three recreation centers — Red Hook in Brooklyn, and St. Mary’s and St. James in The Bronx — sustained damage from the remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sept. 1.

The St. Mary’s center reopened Monday, while the St. James and Red Hook facilities remain shuttered.

Sorrentino Recreation Park in Far Rockaway is closed while it is being used as a COVID testing site. Kwame Ture Recreation Center in The Bronx is closed for use as a vaccination site.

Vital Community Need

David Small, who said he has multiple health challenges, signed up for a free membership at the Red Hook Recreation Center in October.

Red Hook Recreation Center in March 2021. Gabriel Sandoval/THE CITY

The city is soliciting architectural services for the reconstruction of the Red Hook Recreation Center, March 2, 2021.

“We joined it, but each day we go back it’s still closed,” Small, 50, told THE CITY. “It’s not in use for the community, and it’s like we don’t have any other place to go.”

Decontamination of soil on the nearby track, baseball and soccer fields — as well as work at the Red Hook Houses, Brooklyn’s largest public housing complex — has turned the area into a massive construction site. The work has all but eliminated recreational space, save for a couple soccer fields.

The Red Hook center’s boiler sustained severe damage in Ida-related flooding. A Parks spokesperson, Anessa Hodgson, told THE CITY Parks is working to secure a mobile heating unit for a temporary fix.

Hodgson assured THE CITY that closure was not indefinite, but did not provide a reopening date.

“We fully anticipate that the Red Hook Recreation Center will reopen in the near future, it is not closed indefinitely,” she said.

Hodgson also noted that the current closure is separate from a planned federal project to fix damage to the recreation center, which was caused by Hurricane Sandy nearly a decade ago.

Small said the recreation center is a crucial resource for local residents, especially those who have medical issues like he does.

“We need this,” he said.

THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Queens Together launches ‘Unofficial US Open Dining Guide’ encouraging fans to sample restaurants along the 7 line

Aug. 20, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

The US Open returns to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this Sunday, with more than 1 million attendees anticipated to take mass transit to the iconic annual tennis event. With hundreds of thousands of fans set to take the 7 out to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there is a world of delicious local eateries lying beneath the elevated train tracks should any fan wish to stop en-route to the US Open.

Can Queens’ food scene thrive with both trucks and restaurants?

Aug. 19, 2025 By Jessica Militello

In Jackson Heights at 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, Roosevelt Avenue is buzzing with energy as commuters file in and out of subway cars and onto the street and cars and trucks grapple to get down the busy road. The street is filled with rows of shops and restaurants, along with food carts, street vendors and food trucks along the avenue. The almost-but-not-quite the weekend lag leaves hungry commuters faced with another choice to make throughout their day and the array of food truck options in busy areas like Jackson Heights offers customers convenience and delicious food without breaking the bank, two features that can feel vital, particularly with rising costs of living and pressure from inflation.