Neighborhood Tensions Flare at Reopened Pool
By LISA W. FODERARO
When McCarren Park Pool reopened in Brooklyn last week after 28 years, it was hailed as a grand civic achievement and, perhaps, a milestone for a new social dynamic in the city, one in which people of different racial, ethnic and class backgrounds could socialize or at least pursue the same activity together.
A place where the children of hipster artists, attracted by the upscale restoration with its designer flourishes, would play Marco Polo with youngsters from public housing.
As Jonathan Marvel, the projects architect, put it, As architects, it is our goal to contribute spaces that inspire community involvement and face time with each other.
But within days, that excitement has been replaced by apprehension. Two fights at the pool and a handful of arrests confirmed the fears of some residents that the giant pool, with a capacity of 1,500, might draw an unruly crowd to a neighborhood divided among older residents of Italian and Polish descent, gentrifying newcomers and Hispanic families.
What should have been a simple kickoff to summer in New York City has turned fraught, with capacity crowds and racially charged debates and complaints that the city should have committed more resources to the opening, from sanitation to security.
Im not happy and not because of the pool, but because of the fighting, said Tony Otero, 71, who has lived near the pool for 25 years. Its not good for the community, its trouble. All kinds of kids are coming here.
Hot weather and the pools reopening generated so much interest that by Friday, a day after its opening, the place was reaching its capacity early in the day. With a line of hundreds snaking around the block on the weekend, the crowd outside grew restless. Nearby merchants complained that pool visitors tossed litter on the ground, tagged buildings with graffiti and relieved themselves in public.
Inside the pool on Friday, teenagers scuffled with a lifeguard who had ordered them to stop doing back flips and the pool closed an hour early. On Monday, two police officers were injured by swimmers who also persisted in doing backflips. Three men were arrested and charged with assault in the second degree, inciting to riot, criminal nuisance and menacing.
Meredith Chesney, owner of Mousey Brown beauty salon near the pool, said she came out Saturday morning to discover three new tags on her roll-down security gate.
I thought, O.K., its Brooklyn, its not that surprising, she said. But then, 30 minutes later, I went outside to water my plants and I found someone had defecated right in front of the salon. Its shocking.
Posted 7/4/2012 5:45 pm
When McCarren Park Pool reopened in Brooklyn last week after 28 years, it was hailed as a grand civic achievement and, perhaps, a milestone for a new social dynamic in the city, one in which people of different racial, ethnic and class backgrounds could socialize or at least pursue the same activity together.
A place where the children of hipster artists, attracted by the upscale restoration with its designer flourishes, would play Marco Polo with youngsters from public housing.
Posted 7/4/2012 5:47 pm
"We have immigrants living several families to one apartment because there is not adequate housing."
\
That's one way of looking at it.
How about, "We have immigrants living several families to one apartment because they cannot master the simple concepts of birth control and abstinence."?
These are the same people who have been claiming for 50 years that a solution to the academic achievement gap is right around the corner, no matter how many times they fail. They do not learn and they do not care. It's not their money they're spending.
Posted 7/4/2012 5:52 pm
Since this is a "hipster" neighborhood, I wonder if the neighborhood actually advertised the pool to nogs, trying to get them to come.
I can see a handful of stupid Connor antifa types going around the worst ghetto areas of Brooklyn, reminding the little hoodlums to come to the big party this week. Bet their neighbors in the nice white area just adore them now.
Posted 7/4/2012 5:54 pm
"Maybe you should drop by the pool. I've seen only a handful of hipsters. Ridicule them all you want, but they're not gonna steal your shit or kill you while brandishing their EBT cards."
actually advertised the pool to nogs, trying to get them to come. 
(Hispanics). Read carefully: