A long-promised floating pool in the East River will be docked at Pier 35 on the Lower East Side at some point in the near future, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday.
Dubbed + Pool and shaped like a plus sign, the floating pool finally seems to be on its way to the waters of the East River after years of delays since the project was first proposed in 2010.
The pool uses a water-filtration system that promises to pull in the river water and make it clean enough to swim in without using chemicals. Its design divides it into four swimming sections for kids, laps, sports and recreation.
The + Pool is funded as part of a broader $150 million initiative introduced by the governor earlier this year, dubbed “New York Statewide Investment In More Swimming” (NY SWIMS), aimed at boosting swimming access in “high-need” communities around the Empire State.
“Through innovative solutions like + Pool, we are providing children and their families with safe spaces to swim in New York City,” Hochul said, in a statement.
The crowd-funded nonprofit behind the project, named Friends of +Pool, will demonstrate its water-filtration technology on a barge at Pier 35 over the next three months, Hochul and Adams announced.
Once the three-month demonstration is complete, the state and city will assess how well the filtration system worked by measuring the water quality and whether it meets newly established health guidelines at both levels of government.
The state and city will also pilot a 2,000 sq. ft. portion of the 9,000 sq. ft. pool next summer, Adams and Hochul said.
Spokespersons for the governor and mayor did not provide a timeline for when the pool will officially open.
The project has had many fits and starts since it was first proposed in 2010. A 2013 Kickstarter campaign for it raised 270,000 by pledging to engrave donors’ names into the pool’s tiles.
Then there was an ad campaign in 2018 that beer company Heineken advanced. It included a video, narrated by actor Neil Patrick Harris, that reviewed the history of the pool and included a link to an online petition supporting the project.
The city reportedly finally greenlit the project in 2021, when former Mayor Bill de Blasio was still in office, with what is known as a notice to proceed.
As the waterways surrounding the five boroughs are mostly unsafe to swim in, the goal of the +Pool is to make a small portion of them swimmable, according to the company’s website.
“New York City’s waterways are some of our most important assets,” Mayor Adams said Wednesday. “By exploring the possibility of a + Pool, we are not only building on our historic investments in public pools across the city, but also expanding equitable access to swimming for all New Yorkers, especially our children.”
