NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A "first-of-its-kind" floating pool is planned for New York City waters in 2025, city and state officials confirmed Friday.
In a joint announcement, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul said the city and state will team up to fund a +Pool that "can sit in New York’s rivers."
According to the project's website, +Pool is a portable, water-filtering pool that aims to promote equitable access to the city's waters.
Officials said the pool will be tested in the summer of 2024 and, after meeting all health and safety requirements, should open to the public next year.
While the mayor and governor didn't say exactly where the pool would open, previous reports have indicated it could land somewhere on the lower East River—at least to start. A release says the pool can "float in the waters surrounding New York City," suggesting it may travel to different spots.
"I’m proud to partner with Governor Hochul to bring the +Pool, a unique and innovative swimming pool, to New York City — expanding access to swimming for all New Yorkers," Adams said in a statement.
Hochul noted the effort is part of her new NY SWIMS initiative—the Statewide Investment in Municipal Swimming—which she described as a "bold ambitious plan" to tackle the issue of drowning, which is a leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 years.
Given the novel nature of the +Pool, Hochul said the state Department of Health will release new guidelines covering this new category of swimming pools, which use technology to filter water from surrounding bodies of water like rivers.