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    Floating Pool at Barretto Point Park

    3.0 (16 reviews)

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    Whoop, there it is.
    Jia J.

    As referenced in a Wall Street Journal newspaper blog(http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/06/23/in-the-bronx-a-floating-pool-but-no-shuttle-to-get-there/), the worst feature of The Floating Pool Lady swimming-pool-on-a-barge is the difficulty in getting there. My friend and I decided not to be put off by others' fear of the Bronx or derision of public pools as being "ghetto." So, after a great morning at Orchard Beach (separate review), we traveled back down on the 6 train to the Longwood stop, prepared for a 1-mile hike to the barge. MTA Trip Planner tells you to go to the Hunts Point stop, then take some bus - don't do this, because after the bus, you have to walk a mile anyway to get to Barretto Point Park. We surfaced to a dirty street full of no-name discount businesses. No big deal - it looked just like North Williamsburg or something, and there were plenty of people going about their daily business. Walking East, we went under the Bruckner Expressway, and suddenly it was like the post-apocalypse. The pockmarked streets got super wide and empty, and there was not another human being around. There was a four-way intersection with no lights or stop signs. Random trucks and low-riding cars with lights creepily on slowed, honked, and stared.One dude screamed, "Goin' to the POOL???" At an intersection where there were apartment buildings, hope was restored. But then we took a right onto Tiffany, and then it was all junkyards, auto shops, and warehouses with broken (or bulleted? Seriously...) windows. Here, the catcalls from groups of men, whether they looked like kind grandfathers or teenage thugs, became worse. A couple times, they followed us , making sucking noises, clapping their hands, and shouting. Staring at the stains on the ground, I wondered if they were blood or rust as a montage of every mafia and gangster movie I had ever seen ran through my head. In a moment of hilarity, we saw a wholesome looking "Baby Spinach and Arugula" truck up on a curb...with a shattered windshield. For the first time in my life, my heart palpitated with fear in broad daylight (and I've walked alone in rough and poverty-stricken areas all around the world before.) The last 100-yard stretch was permeated with an incredible stench of trash and opened up to a tiny little park with a ribboned gazebo. Someone was actually having a wedding reception there, and there were women and children frolicking in fountains. So weird. As we walked towards the boat, a young girl with a park shirt on screeched "HEY! Over HERE!" We walked to the entrance, where she was standing with a woman who asked us if we were wearing bathingsuits. "Show me your bottoms," she commanded. The locker room was spotless. One freezing cold spigot in the showers spurted water endlessly. I asked a guard if it was possible to shut the water off. "It's just running," she said with indifference. A ramp led us to a blue 82' x 52' rectangle of 4-foot deep water filled with tattooed men in wifebeaters and exultant children. I asked how they'd all gotten there, and they'd done The Walk, too. There was no other way. Finding a ladder by the one roped off lane, we started to enter. A fat local kid who was about 12 years old played police and asked if we were going to swim laps. Don't worry, kid, we said, we'd swim laps. The kids next to him shouted, "You're not even swimming laps!" and I said, "Yeah. You're not even swimming." Scowling, he shrugged, and pushed off into a fat kid butterfly stroke for about ten feet. It was like a scene from "Raising Victor Vargas," but with prepubescents instead of teens. So we swam. Every once in a while, some 30 year old with crazy eye and gold teeth would jump into the lane and thrash around until one of the vigilant lifeguards would remind him he had to do laps or get lost. And my friend had her breasts touched by the 12-year old fatty perv. But no matter; we did what we came to do. We saw that the pool existed, and that some locals can get there. Yeah, there were about 20 teen lifeguards and tons of rules, but I'm glad they had jobs, and doing them right to preserve a tiny watery haven in a no-man's (or rather, no-woman's) land. Hey, this is a great, well managed pool, but if you have a vagina, pack a crowbar and some thugs to get to it. I worry about what the people in the East Bronx (especially women and children) have to go through to get to their local pool. As for me, having a choice in the matter, I will probably never come here again. I doubt that this sentiment is the intention of the floating pool; I mean, is the moral of this story that I should on my side of "The Line" (96th and below), where the scariest thing is wealthy white women in designer gladiator sandals? I hope not.

    The pool up there.

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    Ask the Community - Floating Pool at Barretto Point Park

    Review Highlights - Floating Pool at Barretto Point Park

    Rules do say a child must be 4ft 8inches to go in alone, otherwise must be accompanied by adult in swim suit.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    Lasker Pool - Pool interior

    Lasker Pool

    2.7(35 reviews)
    3.5 miCentral Park

    Open 7 days 11am-3pm and 4pm-7pm Lap Swimming Mon. - Fri…read more from 7:00 - 8:30 AM & 7:00 - 8:30 PM Rules: * Bring your own towels and lock * No electronics in the pool area- must store in locker * No luggage locks, only Master Locks allowed. * All bags frisked before entry Pros: * Enormous pool * Very clean and cold water - you can tell they constantly clean it * There is a lot of space to lie down, but its mostly uncomfortable concrete surfaces. Good thing there are about 10 plastic lounge chairs (that are heavily padlocked and chained to each other) at the back that go quickly Cons: * Because it's a public free pool- there are tons of rules and staff is very strict. Honestly I'd prefer rules and strict versus total chaos at the pool * Changing rooms and showers are gross!! It smells and there is never any toilet paper. Make sure to wear flip flops because the floors are disgusting. Tips: * If you want quiet, don't come to the Friday morning session because there are a million kids running and screaming.

    Jesus. this is why I don't believe in "free" public spaces without being ruined by the bureaucratic…read morecorrupt police system that is NYPD, cranky pool staff that are most probably volunteering bc they don't wanna be there, and rundown government funded facilities. There are NO snack machines NO items allowed by the pool except towel + water NO basic amenities of chairs, umbrellas, etc NO clean restrooms (they're there, just dirty) There are, however: plenty cranky "workers" who will inspect every inch of your bagged items, a "guard" at every door of this labyrinth of a public pool, and fencing around the perimeters is the pool for, God knows why. I regret coming here. I'll stick with the pool at my gym, thanks

    Photos
    Lasker Pool - You're not allowed to take pictures. So I broke the policy for you.

    You're not allowed to take pictures. So I broke the policy for you.

    Lasker Pool
    Lasker Pool - Outside in Central Park

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    Outside in Central Park

    Lake Nanuet Pool - Bubbling fountain in the kids' end of the pool

    Lake Nanuet Pool

    4.6(9 reviews)
    20.0 mi

    This is a great municipal pool! Spacious and doesn't feel too crowded even on busy days & holiday…read moreweekends when you can hardly find parking (though the parking lot is quite large). There are a few picnic tables and grills on the lawn. No pool lounge chairs or towel service so bring your own chairs, picnic blankets, food/snacks and other accoutrements to enjoy a leisurely summer day. Facilities are clean and well-maintained. Very kids/toddler-friendly. The sizeable shallow end has several sprinklers/splash fountains for children to play in, and there are slides on both the kiddie and adult sides. Also a playground in the back (not affiliated with the pool). There are always many life guards on duty every time I've gone. The pool is accessible only to Clarkstown residents and their guests, so if you're not a resident befriend someone who is. You must obtain a Clarkstown resident ID card first at the registration office at 31 Zukor Road in New City. (The pool won't simply accept a driver's license.) Rates can be either daily or seasonal for individuals or family, and are very reasonable compared to similar community pools.

    Back in the day we used to refer to this beleaguered mud hole as "Nanuet Snake" for the inundation…read moreof various slithering creatures who would join you on your swim in what was then a dark and unknowable crater that had more in common with Loch Ness than 20th century suburbia. It's no exaggeration that these monsters from the deep probably kept a legion of child psychiatrists in full time employment. On a recent visit it was nice to see that the previous snake-ridden den of iniquity has long been been replaced with a legitimate pool and that the mythological beasts of years past have been slayed by chlorine and actual cement walls. You can even see right to the bottom. What a concept. This is what Nanuet Lake should have been like all along... no thanks whatsoever to my parents who thought this was some tough love version of Shangri La, albeit minus the all consuming bliss one often finds in paradise. I kid about my parents (almost) and am happy to bestow five easy stars for a childhood reclaimed. I still hate snakes.

    Photos
    Lake Nanuet Pool - View from the shallow end (kids area)

    View from the shallow end (kids area)

    Lake Nanuet Pool - Kiddie slide

    Kiddie slide

    Lake Nanuet Pool - 4th of July @ the Town Pool

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    4th of July @ the Town Pool

    Floating Pool at Barretto Point Park - swimmingpools - Updated May 2026

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