Lifeguard Shortage Makes Bed-Stuy's Kosciuszko Pool No-Go For Regulars

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A national lifeguard shortage spurring long wait times and closures across city pools hasn't spared Bed-Stuy's only public swimming spot — making it a no-go for regulars who typically rely on the pool for exercise.

Neighbors already disappointed by the removal of lap swimming times announced at the start of the season say crowded conditions have made it difficult, or impossible, to exercise in Kosciuszko Pool even during regular hours.

A lack of lifeguards has made it so adult swimmers often get to the pool and find only its shallow end open and the rest of the pool blocked off, they say.

"You really can’t swim laps in that area because you’re crashing into kids," said Kaitlin Abrams, one of several neighbors who started a petition before pools had opened. "I try to go a few times a week ... and then many times I'll get there and it's too crowded and I turn around and leave."

Abrams says she has only been able to swim laps at Kosciuszko twice since it opened June 28 despite the more-than-weekly check ins.

She is among several neighbors who told Patch the closures have either spurred frustration or kept them from the pool entirely.

"How am I supposed to plan ahead if I have no idea if the lap swim area will be open or not until I show up?" said another neighbor, Dave Huston. "I know there's a lifeguard shortage, but it's really frustrating when you have these pools with lap swim areas, filled with water, ready to be used, yet you can't utilize them."

Another neighbor, Jennie Mary, said she typically swims multiple times a week but this year only stopped by once.

"[I] won't be back unless there is better staffing and safer swimming conditions," she said.

The lack of space is especially frustrating, neighbors said, for elderly people or those with disabilities who use the pool for exercise. Kosciuszko is Bed-Stuy's only public, free swimming facility.

When asked about the closures, parks officials noted that they warned at the start of the season that open swim would be prioritized over other pool uses this summer.

"We try to open lap lanes wherever feasible, but in instances where space or staffing is limited, we will prioritize open swim over specific uses in order to accommodate as many people as possible," a spokesperson told Patch.

City officials have tried to help with the staffing shortage by increasing pay for lifeguards in early July and creating a new training program specific to the city's 17 mini pools.

In the weeks since the deal, intermediate and Olympic sized pools across the city once plagued by surprise closures have been open 100 percent of the time, parks officials told Patch.

But that hasn't meant an end to partial closures. At Kosciuszko Pool, data from the Parks Department shows the pool was only 50-percent open two out of the last seven days and only 75-percent open the other five.

Neighbors tell Patch they will keep pushing the petition, which has gained more than 630 signatures since it was posted back in May.

Originally asking that Kosciuszko Pool open earlier in the season, the petition is now focused on demanding adequate staffing and reinstating adult or senior swim hours.

"Hopefully with the agreement to increase lifeguard pay, they can start opening the lap swim areas again," Huston said. "But now that it's mid-July, it might be too late for this summer, unfortunately."