A city agency made a splash Wednesday with its call for a public pool in the East River — a plan that could return swimming to the urban estuary for the first time in over 100 years.
“I’m excited this is finally getting some attention!” gushed Jasmine Blake, who has worked on behalf of public housing residents with an organization called +POOL that plans to submit a proposal for a floating, Olympic-sized lap swimming facility.
The Economic Development Corporation, a quasi-public agency controlled by the mayor, put out a “request for expressions of interest” to groups able to “developing, installing, and operating a self-filtering swim facility to be located in the East River off lower Manhattan.” Operators would have to provide a safe, financially sustainable recreational access to clean water, according to EDC.
The news organization The City first reported EDC’s appeal.
Kara Meyer’s +POOL originally pitched the idea of a plus sign-shaped “giant strainer dropped in the river” eight years ago. So she was buoyant about the call for bids.
“We’re super excited that EDC has put this proposal on the table,” said Meyer, who serves as the nonprofit’s deputy director.
“We’ve put a lot of time and energy and talent into understanding the technical feasibility of +POOL and we believe +POOL will be one of the first ways New Yorkers can access the river for swimming in more than 100 years,” she said.
In 1890 the Hudson and East rivers boasted 15 baths buoyed by pontoons after public health advocates pushed for public pools, according to the city’s Parks Department. The city shuttered the baths in the 1920s when the river became too polluted for swimming.
Decades later Brooklyn Bridge Park temporarily hosted a popular temporary floating pool barge in the East River in 2007.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said can’t wait to dive in.
“I love Pool+,” she told The Post. “I want it so badly. I’m 100 percent supportive. I’d love to have it open by next summer.”
EDC’s deadline for proposals is Nov. 1. The agency did not provide a timeline for completion.