Violence Mars McCarren Park Pool Relaunch

This is kinda sad, appalling and ironic all at once. The Times reports that McCarren Park Pool had to be closed on its second day of operations after its grand reopening on Thursday because a violent pack of teenagers attacked lifeguards. From the NYT: “A fight broke out shortly after 6 p.m., about an hour before closing on what had been a sweltering day, when some teenagers doing back-flips into the pool refused to follow the lifeguards’ command to stop, said Vickie Karp, the department spokeswoman. The teenagers then attacked the lifeguards.” The article doesn’t reference it, but it’s both sad and ironic given that the reason the community fought reopening the pool back in the 1980’s was just this kind of unruly behavior. According to another Times report over the weekend, Friday’s violence did not deter hopeful swimmers from lining up to gain entry to the pool over the weekend.
Photo by Katie Sokoler for Gothamist