Red Hook Recreation Center

while this pool seems like it could be great just have a backup plan before you come here especially if you live far away. 30% of the times I’ve come here (lugging a baby/​toddler with me!!!) it has been randomly closed. today everyone was sitting outside at 5:30 pm breathing in mr softee exhaust fumes outside waiting to be let back in after they kicked everyone out because someone was sick (?). luckily I live nearby so besides the complete hassle it is preparing yourself for all the absurd rules and awful staff, I was just able to go back home after waiting a while with a crazy toddler. you’re screwed if you’ve made a trek.
if you do get in it’ll be one of the most bizarre experiences of your life.

This review is for the Early Bird Adult Lap Swim. The pool is almost 40m and is very clean. They have plenty of lifeguards and staff on, even at 7am. The locker rooms are pretty basic, flip flops are highly recommended if not required. Check out the website before going because there are quite a few rules & regulations. You must have a padlock. You must be in a real bathing suit. You cannot wear t-​shirts or bring certain items out to the pool. Nothing big but rules for sure.
Everyone is super nice, the staff are polite & professional.
I would give it 5 stars if not for the lacking locker rooms but what do I really expect from a public park. I think it’s as good as it gets for the price which is free or tax dollars!
I highly recommend you get your swim on there for free!

The best for all your swimming workouts. Water temp is 78 – 80 degrees. Perfect for an outdoor SwimmingPool

I am updating my review of the Red Hook Recreation Center pool. It appears I had an unfortunate encounter with a poorly mannered staffer. Since my initial review, the staffers have been awesome and helpful.
The pool, for the most part, is a little oasis in New York City. The riff raff stay out thanks to the enforcement of the rules.
I still wonder if FGL has a television in her thighs. But it will not hinder me from enjoying the Red Hook pool.

A good place to cool off but nothing too fancy. However, I am a fan. All of the rules make sense even though they seem a bit constricting. One that I haven’t seen posted here is about water bottles — you can only bring in a clear plastic water bottle (the lifeguards have regular metal ones, but those are verboten).

Huge pool. I came here for swimming lessons last year. You would love it. It’s just too nice. The water was pretty cool although the weather was so hot. One of the best places to swim at in Brooklyn.

The Red Hook pool (the real purpose of coming here) has just as many pros as it does cons, for that reason I’ll give them an average rating. Most of the cons however seem to be city-​wide public pool policies so nothing specific about the one in Red Hook.
Cons:
–You must come wearing a bathing suit, they will ask to see the inside of your suit to check for a liner if what you’re wearing doesn’t look like a swim suit.
–The only shirt you’re allowed to wear in the pool area is a plain white t-​shirt
–No magazines or newspapers are allowed in the pool area (books are ok)
–No food or drinks other than water are allowed in the pool area
–No personal electronics of any kind allowed in pool area (including cell phones)
–Must shower prior to entering pool area (water is a bit chilly)
–There are only a few plastic lounge chairs, if you don’t claim one you’re only option is claiming a piece of concrete by the pool
–The pool is only about 4 feet deep (give or take a few inches)
–There are two very large cones sticking out of the pool (pool filters), they say keep off of them (supposedly so you’re not climbing up on them) but if you even lean up against one you’ll get one of the lifeguards whistling at you to move away from it. It’s too bad as the water by those cones are closer to 5 feet, they have little jets of water, and it’s a tad cooler than the rest of the pool.
–The locker room is actually just the perimeter of the rec center gym ($ 100/​yr) so you’re getting naked a few feet away from someone on the elliptical or weight machine. Which is also a negative that the men and women’s gyms are separate.
Pros:
–It’s free
–It’s clean
–It’s refreshing in the summer even when the water temp gets really warm
–Despite it’s location near the projects of Red Hook the crowd is pretty diverse
–It’s much less busy than more popular pools like the ones in Williamsburg and Astoria
–It’s one of the largest pools in the city (330×130′)
–They have a blocked off little kid area with sprayers to cool off the little ones without having to worry about bringing them into the pool
–They have designated times where they block off a section of the pool just for people who want to swim laps
In case you want to go, make sure to bring a lock, remember the guidlines listed above, and note their hours: 11−3pm & 4−7pm, June 27 to September 2 (for 2013).

This is a review of the pool only, not the recreation center in general.
The most important thing to know before you go to any NYC pool are the rules. If you follow the rules and are courteous to the staff, you’ll have a great time. So here they are in a nutshell:
–In order to get into the pool building, you need to have a combination lock for a locker. You have to show it to them before you can get in. They are strict about it. If you don’t have a lock, you don’t get into the building. Period.
–You can’t bring anything with you on deck except for your swim attire (bathing suit, goggles, swim cap, flip flops), towel, water bottle, sunblock, sunglasses, and a book or magazine. (No newspapers.) This is mostly to prevent litter, but also to stop anyone from bringing anything dangerous onto the pool deck. The staff might ask you to shake out your towel to show you aren’t hiding anything. No biggie.
–You can wear clothes over your bathing suit on deck, but they have to be white. (This is an old rule from the 80s when gang activity was a problem. They don’t want people flashing gang colors. Though this isn’t really an issue anymore, it’s worked to keep the pools safe so far, so why should they risk dropping the rule, right?) Since you can wear whatever you want into the building, just not on the pool deck, I find it easiest to just leave my clothes in the locker and not worry about this rule.
–And you have to «shower» before you go on deck. Just dowse yourself quickly so you look wet and you’re good.
The rules sound crazy, complicated, and outdated, but they’re really easy to follow and they were put in place for a reason. The parks department just wants everyone to have a good time and be safe. All of the bad reviews I’ve read about NYC public pools (aside from the McCarren weirdness) seem to be from entitled a-​holes not following the rules and getting yelled at for it. If you follow the rules, the staff is perfectly nice.
The locker rooms are bare bones and the bathrooms are kind of grody. Not dirty, just always wet from cleaning and no toilet seats. Kind of what you’d expect in a rustic campground. But the pool is safe and clean and wonderful and FREE. And the lifeguards are good about keeping kids from being loud and obnoxious. So it’s pretty peaceful.
The pool is less crowded on weekdays and on weekend mornings. But even when I’ve gone on 90+ degree days on the weekend, I have not felt like it was crowded. There is also an adults-​only lap-​swim section if you want to avoid the kiddies completely.
Also, be aware of the hours so you don’t show up and find the pool closed. All NYC outdoor pools are open 11am to 7pm, and close between 3pm and 4pm for cleaning.
Bring a book, take a dip, and enjoy the sunshine! Oh, and get some empanadas at the ball-​field vendors when you’re done. Yum!

If you’ve not been, you’re missing out. I go for the pool in the Summer, pedaling my way south from Wiliamsburg. McCarren pool is blocks away from me but such a madhouse.
I’ve been doing the adult swim with the Red Hook night owl crew for the past three years. Few things make me happier than splashing around like a maniac for a mile or two. You should check out the official NYC parks site linked to this listing for all the info on adult swim.
There are a few things you should know about the pool policies which I’m going to write here because nobody ever seems to read the rules on the parks site and I have a conversation with these types in line all the time. And you should know that you have no place to complain about these policies. There are thousands of people coming and going, the staff is overburdened on a good day and your whole pool swimming experience is absolutely free. Remember those things. Don’t be the crankypants person whining in line.
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1. You need to have a lock.
2. No electronics, newspapers, or basically anything you’d want to do, read or entertain yourself with on the pool deck. The idea here is swimming, not luxury lifestyle lounging.
3. You have to have a real swimsuit. No underwear doing double duty.
4. No t-​shirts except for plain white ones in the pool area. No graphics. No colors.
5. Have all your stuff ready before you get to the front of the line. Don’t go digging for it only when you’re face to face with the guards. That holds up the line. That makes me a crankypants. I don’t want to be a crankypants person.
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And here are a general few tips I’ve learned over time:
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1. Don’t show up exactly at opening time. That’s 11am and 4pm, after they close the pool to run the filters for a bit at 3pm. If you’re there at these times you’ll be standing in line in the heat and that will make you a crankypants. I told you not to be a crankypants person above.
2. Take a trip here on a weekend day. You get to see a wider mix of Brooklyn’s residents. You also have the option to gorge yourself at the nearby food trucks swarming around the soccer fields. I guess you could watch a soccer game too, but I’ve always been too busy gorging myself at the food trucks to do so.
3. Wear sandals.
4. Bring soap and shampoo if you’re uninhibited enough to flaunt what you’ve got in the showers. The chlorine is potent and gets in your skin. You should wash it off as soon as you’re done with your dip.
5. There are a lot of local youth here, and the culture and experiences they’ve had tend to give them a certain perspective on masculinity. I’m not saying the kids are straight-​up homophobic, but keep your eyes on your own kit and avoid silly confrontations. I’ve seen this happen more than once and it’s just stupid.
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Other things you ought to know:
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1. They provide free lunches to kids. Just ask the staff about the program at the front desk.
2. If you want to hit the weight room you need to have a towel. Not a rag, not an extra pair of gym shorts, but a real towel.

I was so excited when Brooklyn Heights got a pool this year, only to find out you have to wait in line at the right time to get a wrist band, it’s limited to 60 each session, and you get to swim for 45 min. On a hot day that’s just not enough– if you’re lucky enough.
Enter RED HOOK POOL. When my husband (bred Brooklynite) told me «let’s go to Red Hook Pool,» I grimaced. «A City Pool?» I asked. «Really?» Really! A big, beautiful, clean, calm city pool with gigantic kiddie pool. Yes, don’t forget the rules– bring a lock or you don’t get in, shower off in cold water quickly before swimming, nothing in the pool area but you, a towel and your swimsuit (and sunscreen), and it closes for an hour at lunchtime. If you follow ‘em you’ll be in NYC heaven.
Growing up in the suburbs I used to have to pay for this, but I’ll gladly pay my tax $ to provide things like this. Sat– heading off to Red Hook Pool with my husband and 2 kids to cool off. Nothing like the sound of laughter and happiness in the city.

i used to live on the LES about 15 years ago and used the Pitt Street pool. i missed it when i moved to brooklyn. HOW DID I MISS THIS GEM! i went to the red hook pool this morning — yes, there are rules… yes, i think a few are a bit overbearing… YES… it is a HUGE pool for FREE that was NOT crowded… I checked out the website, I brought a lock, It clearly states white t-​shirts only, a towel and bound reading material… i happily waltzed in, locked up my stuff and threw down my towel on the pool deck (concrete slab) and read my book until i jumped in the 4ft deep refreshing goodness of the Red Hook Pool… thank you NYC, nice to see tax dollars at work!
Oh — and there are swimming lanes, and a HUGE kiddie area… seriously.

gawd i love this place.
huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free.huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free.
even on weekends with a lot of ppl, this pool is so big, there is always room for everyone. only reason i held back on that last star, pool never gets deep, always at four feet. and no diving/​jumping, but it’s a public pool. what can you expect. on boiling hot summer days, this place is a god sent.
did i mention?
huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free.huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free. huge. clean. free.

I am writing this review for all adults and teens who are ‘serious’ about lap swimming.
You will not beat this deal. From 7 – 8:30 AM every weekday and 7 – 8:30PM from July 5tth– Sept. 3^rd we have complete access to the pool for unobstructed lap swims free of children and waders. And the recreation folks who manage this program are super nice.
For free. Take that, YMCA!
The pool and locker area are much cleaner than in Sunset Park. The pool is 40meters (43 yrds) per length, so it is longer than your typical 25 yd pool but shorter than Sunset Park (50m). So just account for your laps accordingly!
The divisions between the lanes are non-​existent, so you just pretty much rely on your other fellow lap-​swimmers to stay on a straight line and within the «Fast-​Medium-​Slow» divisions. For the most part, this works well.
Oh, but the water fountains are gross – water comes out brown. Bring a water bottle already filled unless you want to taste some Gowanus.

Only in New York?
FREE.
CLEAN.
HUGE — you can swim any which direction and never even see a wall. There are a few lanes, too, though.
NOT CROWDED.
FREE.
ACCESSIBLE — by subway, bus, or best, by bicycle!
ADJACENT TO A PARK FILLED WITH CENTRAL AMERICAN FOOD — had my first pupusa here after a hearty swim, and it will not be my last.
FREE.

Yesterday husband and I went out to Robert Moses beach, and had a slot of sand smaller than our bathroom, and about two feet in every direction to move, once in the water.
Heat waves = tons of people trying to cool off. Okay, I get it.
So imagine our delight when we showed up at the Red Hook pool today with nary a line, got in for free, swam for an hour and a half with so few people around us (seems like the consensus is for people to cling to the walls of the pool and relax — so I recommend actually hanging out in the middle and playing Little Mermaid). The pool is remarkably clean, there are plenty of lifeguards, and did I mention its HUGE? I wish I went earlier in the season, but I intend to ride out this heat wave at the pool for the rest of the week. chaching!

I went to the Red Hook pool today because I was dreading the idea of going all the way to the NYSC in Times Square just for 20 mins of lap swimming. At 12:30PM, I expected a painfully crowded chaotic scene and I was so pleasantly surprised!
I LOVE THIS POOL!
True, the showers/​locker rooms remind me of an insane asylum but I have no intention of ever showering there. And really, as long as the water is clean, who cares about those details.
The water is blue, there are lifeguards everywhere, all the lap swimmers seemed to play nicely with each other, the deck wasn’t too crowded for a bit of lounging.
I am so happy this pool is here. I only wish I had discovered it before the end of the summer!

I am writing about the pool. I LOVE THIS POOL! And the best thing… it is FREE! I am glad my tax dollars are going somewhere worthwhile. But warning: get here early, because it gets crowded! We arrived around 11:30 and there was no line to get in. But by the time we drove away, around 4, there was a huge line to get in! The pool is very clean, no floating dead bugs, wads of hair, or dead skin. That is a plus!
Also, the few poolside chairs are hot commodities, so try to see if you can snag one, but its hard! Sort of like a parking space in Flushing on a Saturday! The pool is open from 11 — 2:45 and then closed from 3 – 4 and then reopens from 4 — 6:45. I think the one hour closing is a good time to go and get lunch by the ballfield, but everyone and their mothers are also there, so be prepared to WAIT.
One DOWNER: the female locker room is very SCARY. The toilets have no seats, so be prepared to SQUAT and also it is very SMELLY. The showers were also FRIGHTENING. Oh well… what can you do? Its a FREE POOL right? Can’t have everything… but really this is a GREAT POOL. Just don’t pee ;-)

This update is about the pool. VH and I had the opportunity to go to the pool this Saturday. I’ve been to a few of the outdoor pools around the city that are open in the summer, and this is the one I like the best.
First of all, its size: 330′ x 130′ x 4′, olympic-​size pool, i.e. BIG. In fact, this is the biggest outdoor pool I had the opportunity to swim in in NYC. Because of its size (and maybe because this is Red Hook), it doesn’t get too crowded.
Second, the water: nice and clean, very clear. This pool is clean, a lot cleaner than, say, the John Jay pool in the UES.
Third: if you are serious about lap swimming, about ¼ of the pool is devoted solely to that. This means that, at times, it can get crowded, but the turnover is pretty quick. On a sunny Saturday late morning-​early afternoon in August I was able to swim laps without any problem (in the end, only a handful of people were swimming nonstop). Personally I wish the space allocated to lap swimming were bigger, but I guess this is fair enough. There may be hours early in the morning and late in the evening when the pool is open just for lap swimming.
Fourth: the changing room is not really a changing room, more like boards put in front of the lockers (which are all of the small type, by the way); and the restrooms remind me of something out of a soviet gulag…
Last but not least: grab a delicious pupusa at one of the carts by the park (… and quickly recover all the calories you have just burned swimming).

The Good:
$ 25 membership for 6 months
HUGE swimming pool with designated lap swim area
Quiet/​deserted 400 m track
Wall mural dedicated to Tang (the drink of champions)
The Bad:
Limited weight room — it does the job, just gotta be creative
Crawling with kids
Lap swim during the day can get crowded with «non-​swimmers»
The Ugly:
People you never, ever wanted to see naked changing a mere 4 feet away from you… seriously, cover up!
Prison-​style bathrooms and showers
The idea of spending a small fortune on a gym membership solely to lift some weights and swim a bit seemed ridiculous to me. So, you can imagine the lure of less than $ 5 a month pulled me right in.
The weight room itself is functional, but as suggested above, very minimal. If you’re looking for state-​of-​the-​art equipment (and in some cases, equipment) then you should probably avoid coming to workout here. But, if you just need some free weights, a few basic machines, and some benches, you should be good to go.
The pool is great! It’s huge (40 m for lap swim). It can get really crowded during the day, but that is my only complaint. The water is refreshing and clean (surprise!) and the section for lap swimmers is separate from the chaos that is kiddie-​swim.
I like running on the track mostly because there is virtually no one on it, regardless of what time of the day. Its fairly well maintained and most people who are using it are courteous and have learned that walking in lane one is a bad idea.
The bathrooms, showers, and locker room situations are not for the faint of heart. The locker room is swamped at peak times. Most people are not shy about taking it off and letting it all hang out. Everything in the showers and bathroom are made out of concrete, but it’s decent enough for me.
Give this place a shot, its an alright place to work out and the pool is freakin’ fantastic!

I’m reviewing the pool.
First, it’s big. It’s even bigger than an Olympic pool (and by quite a large margin). Second, it’s pretty clean — definitely not what you think of when you hear «city pool.»
I’ve been here in the evening for lap swimming hours and it’s relatively crowded, but not so bad that you can get a good workout in. The entire pool isn’t open for laps, but even though you can only use one third, that still means each length is nearly 40 meters, not bad for a free pool!
I was there today, a warm Saturday afternoon, for general swimming. There was a line to get in at 4:00pm, but we managed to avoid it by enjoying a taco first and showing up at 4:15. Then we walked right in. Even though there were a lot of people there, we were still able to find plenty of space to splash around without running into anybody. Then I did some laps in the lap swimming section.
As other people have mentioned, there is a lack chairs, so be prepared to lay on the concrete.
Also, make sure you read up on the rules. Some of them may seem ridiculous (no shirts allowed in the pool area unless they are white, no electronics at all, no pool toys, each person must show a lock before entering), but they’re not so bad when you realize that if everybody brought a ball to throw around, you’d get hit in the head about every eight seconds.
All in all, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon in Red Hook before eating some cheap meatballs at Ikea.