You are reading

Mayor to Close City Pools for the Year

Astoria Pool (NYC Parks)

April 16, 2020 By Christian Murray

New York City’s public pools will be be shut this summer.

Mayor Bill de Blasio made the announcement at a press briefing this morning when he also warned that beaches may close too.

The city operates more than 50 outdoor pools, including seven in Queens. The mayor said the pools need to remain closed to curb the transmission of the coronavirus. He said that the city will continue to stop large gatherings and ensure people are following social distancing guidelines.

The pools are typically open from the end of June—after public school closes for the year—through to Labor Day.

The pool closures are expected to save the city $12 million.

The city is making big cuts to the budget, as tax revenue has plummeted.

Council Member Costa Constantinides, whose district includes the public pool at Astoria Park, said the mayor made the right decision.

“Mayor de Blasio’s decision to close our public pools was no doubt a difficult but necessary decision to flatten the curve,” Constantinides said. “Challenging times require tough decisions.”

Constantinides, however, notes that the closure of the pools will see the loss of seasonal jobs, often taken by teenagers. He is calling on the mayor to find other ways to keep younger residents employed and engaged.

“The city must come up with a plan to provide our youngest New Yorkers with quality programming that keeps them safe, engaged and healthy,” Constantinides said. “I am ready to work with the administration to find a constructive solution to this.”

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

Hate Crimes Task Force investigating bomb threats against Mamdani: NYPD

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force launched a probe into multiple death threats made against Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani after his district office at 24-08 32nd St. in Astoria received four expletive-filled phone voicemails, on various dates, making threatening anti-Muslim statements by an unknown individual, including a threat to blow up his car.

The calls were made from an untraceable number and labeled the mayoral candidate a “terrorist who is not welcome in New York or America” in a message phoned in on Wednesday morning.

Seven teens indicted for attempted murder in brutal Kissena Park gang attack on two girls: DA

A Queens grand jury indicted seven teenagers for attempted murder, gang assault, robbery, and other crimes for an attack on two girls inside Kissena Park in Flushing in early May.

The defendants, who are all 17 years old, were variously arraigned in Queens Supreme Court between June 4 and Wednesday in two separate 25-count indictments with two counts of attempted murder in the second degree. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison.

Queens Defenders founder charged with stealing nonprofit funds as second scandal unfolds

The founder of the Queens Defenders and her husband have lawyered up after they were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the non-profit organization.

Former Queens Defenders executive director Lori Zeno, 64, surrendered Wednesday at the Brooklyn federal courthouse. Zeno was arraigned on an indictment charging her and Rashad Ruhani, 55, with wire fraud conspiracy, theft, money laundering conspiracy and other crimes.

Krishnan leads push to end city contracts with convicted landscaping company owner

Jun. 18, 2025 By Czarinna Andres

A coalition of elected officials and labor leaders is calling on the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to immediately terminate all contracts with Griffin’s Landscaping, a city contractor whose owner, Glenn Griffin, was recently sentenced to two years in federal prison for bribery and illegal dumping as part of a $2.4 million environmental crime scheme.