Three Harlem Pools To Reopen In August, City Says

HARLEM, NY — Three Harlem pools that have been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic will debut for the summer in August as part of the city's budget deal for fiscal year 2021, city officials announced this week.

Harlem's Marcus Garvey, Jackie Robinson and Wagner Houses pools are three of the 15 city pools set to open Aug. 1 to help New Yorkers cool off during the hot late-summer months. City pools had been removed from the budget due to cuts made to the Parks Department to deal with a loss of revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but City Hall and lawmakers reached an agreement to reopen a handful of pools in each borough.

Hamilton Fish Pool on the Lower East Side will also open in Manhattan. Three pools will be opened in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx and two pools will be opened on Staten Island.

Under the agreement, the parks department will spend more than $5 million to hire 716 lifeguards and millions more for other pool staffers, according to the mayor's office.

The New York City Council voted Tuesday night to approve the fiscal year 2021 budget, narrowly missing a midnight deadline, despite objections from two different factions of lawmakers regarding planned cuts to the NYPD budget.