Rockaway to get its first-ever public pool

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards put $26 million toward an aquatic center in the Rockaways this week, marking the single largest capital budget allocation of his tenure.  Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

The Rockaway peninsula will soon get its first-ever public pool after Queens Borough President Donovan Richards infused the project with $26 million, the largest single capital allocation of his tenure.

Advocates say the two-pool aquatic center, a personal endeavor for the BP, will serve as a huge step toward addressing inequities in water access in a community known for its beaches and shorelines.

The center will be the first fully public pool in the history of the beach neighborhood and will be the home to a coalition of swim safety and training programs available to a community all too familiar with drownings and a lack of water education.

“I'm proud to present a $26 million check to the families of Rockaway so we can put shovels in the ground to build an aquatic center right here,” Richards said this week.

According to the BP, though one out of every 10 white kids don’t know how to swim, one of every three Black or brown New Yorkers can’t swim.

The disparity has resulted in a parade of drowning deaths along Rockways’ shores over the years.

Just last week, a 22-year-old swimmer went missing off the coast of Rockaway.

“Our hearts are heavy as we think about this moment,” said Richards. “It's been a long time coming to get here, a long time. We know a lot of the challenges when we think about drowning. We hear it and talk about it based on historic disinvestment in this community.”

The allocation from Richards makes up about 20 percent of his overall capital budget for the year, and is the largest single allocation he has made as the borough president.

The center will be built on Beach 32nd Street, and will include an outdoor pool, an indoor pool, desk space and multi-purpose rooms.

“This center is exactly what you all deserve,” Richards said.

The BP’s allocation is bolstered by funding from the governor, mayor and State Assembly.

“Our indoor and outdoor pools are essential for so many New Yorkers,” said NYC Parks Department Commissioner Iris Rodriguez Rosa. “They're important amenities that allow people to cool off, have fun and stay fit.”

“Our pools are not only great places to have fun, but they are vital pieces of city infrastructure and offer safe access to water for so many New Yorkers,” she added.

None of the city’s 91 public pools are in Rockaway, leaving many locals without a proper swim education despite growing up just blocks from the second-largest body of water on the planet.

“Even though we have the infrastructure, a lot of time our communities are still locked out,” said Richards. “Today is really about ensuring that we give real opportunity to our community.”

Drownings have become a fact of life in the Rockaway community.

“I’m born and raised here, we all go through every summer of drownings, someone's cousin, someone who comes to visit,” said Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato.

Aminatu Noah, the mother of 16-year-old Elyjha Chandler, who drowned off the coast of Riis Beach with his friend last year, knows that reality all too well.

“Since that day, my family has never been the same,” Noah said. “This is not just one incident. This is about systematic issues that need urgent attention. We must start by addressing swim education in our school.”

Pheffer Amato and other Rockaway officials have pushed legislation in the state to increase water education across New York, including a bill that would require a drowning education video be shown at local hospitals to every family with a new born baby.

Another bill at the city level, sponsored by Far Rockaway Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to report annually on drowning deaths that occur in the city. The report would include the location and facility type at which the drowning death occurred, the manner in which the drowning death occurred and details about the victim.

Swim safety advocates said that even though ocean access is near ubiquitous in the Rockaways, learning how to swim in the ocean is not as safe as learning in a pool.

“Every family here deserves safe, accessible, access to the water,” said Shawn Slevin, the founder of Swim Strong, a water education program.

“Having a public pool available means there's an opportunity for everyone who's taking various swim lessons with those providers that are here to practice those skills every day, and what that's going to mean is stronger, more competent swimmers that will lead on to other opportunities out of this community,” Slevin added.

Kaitlin Krause, the founder and executive director of Rising Tide Effect, another water safety program, agreed.

“This center will be a year round space of safety, joy and learning, a place where children are going to gain life saving skills, and families get to experience the water together safely,” she said "It sends a clear message: water safety belongs to everyone.”

The design phase for the aquatic center will begin in the fall.

There is no timeline for construction or completion, according to the Parks Department.