New York Today: An Afternoon at the City Pool

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/nyregion/new-york-today-an-afternoon-at-the-city-pool.html

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Good morning on this heated Friday.

It’s time for a dip.

As the heat rises today — it’s a sunny 85 and will most likely reach 89 this weekend — an outdoor pool sounds like the perfect place to be.

In case you forgot, our city runs 53 of them.

We recently spent time at outdoor public pools to talk with New Yorkers who were soaking up the sun, or cooling off.

We arrived at the pool in Astoria Park, which overlooks the East River, during last week’s heat wave and were met by a line. Daniel Caro, 12, was at the front.

He rattled off the day’s planned activities: “Marco Polo, shark attack, ‘get the goggles,’” then maybe a hot dog or chicken nuggets.

After entering, he began scanning the deck to see which of his friends would show today, and the pool came to life around him.

Grandmothers rubbed down children with sunscreen. The first cannonballs broke the pool’s placid surface. A young dad with a large back tattoo gently played with kids in the water.

Here in Queens, and at city pools across the boroughs, it’s a mix of ages, races, ethnicities, body shapes and even bathing suit styles.

Heba Emam, 42, said that after the burkini bans in France in 2016, she was concerned about coming to the pool.

“It was a big problem and I was nervous,” said Ms. Emam, on the left. “But here everyone has been really good, thank God. I love this city.”

And despite what you may think, it’s not only families and kids who go.

Mike DiJune, 28, a personal trainer, met his girlfriend, Sky Spallone, 27, a doulah and yoga instructor, at the Hamilton Fish Pool on the Lower East Side, after he rode a bicycle from Chelsea.

“It’s so nice to come hot off a Citi Bike and jump right in,” he said. (After a shower, he added.)

One complaint we heard from Maria Olivarez, 35, on her very first pool day in New York, at Sheltering Arms Pool in Harlem, was that the water was too chilly.

“It’s so cold it hurts your bones,” she said.

On our visits across the city, we discovered that not all pools, or their amenities, are the same. But the vibe is generally similar: laid-back.

At the Surf Cafe at Astoria’s pool, Nedy Perez served up orders of wings, fries and burgers to the estimated 2,500 people who use the pool each day.

“We treat everyone like they’re on vacation because not everyone can afford to go to the Mediterranean,” she said. “Here at the pool, everyone is happy.”

Our city’s outdoor pools are open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an hour break at 3 p.m. for cleaning. You can find one here.

Here’s what else is happening:

• Alain E. Kaloyeros, an architect of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s signature economic development plan, was convicted of rigging bids for state contracts. [New York Times]

• With a rickety bridge set to be demolished, a three-decade-long existential crisis in Kew Gardens, Queens, may be over. [New York Times]

• In just two months, Letitia James, New York City’s public advocate, has raised $1 million for her race to become state attorney general. [New York Times]

• Eleven people in Upper Manhattan have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease since last week. [New York Times]

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tangled with Representative Joseph Crowley on Twitter about his spot on the Working Families Party line in the November election. [New York Times]

• In “About New York,” the columnist Jim Dwyer tells us about the state senator who had a change of heart on his stance on speed zone security cameras. [New York Times]

• Many towns in the New York area have banned lawn signs indicating houses for sale. Do they still have value in a rapidly evolving market? [New York Times]

• Residents of the Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant will soon be able to enjoy something they haven’t had in over 20 years: a community center. [Bklyner]

• A team of rescuers successfully liberated a humpback whale that was tangled in a rope off the coast of Sandy Hook, N.J. [Gothamist]

• Governor Cuomo once again said that he believes the city should pay half the cost of repairs to the subway system. [Crains New York]

• The body of the 4-year-old girl killed in a Brooklyn hit-and-run was sent back to Mexico to be buried. Her parents stayed behind. [Brooklyn Paper]

• Today’s Metropolitan Diary: “‘Hey, Tex’”

• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Morning Briefing.

• The final Manhattanhenge of the season is tonight at 8:21 p.m. [Here’s how to watch.]

• Visit the exhibition “Au Naturel,” which compares and contrasts the human form and nature, at the Conference House Park Visitor Center in Staten Island. 10 a.m. [Free]

• Learn how to row at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. 4:30 p.m. [Free]

• Dance companies present an evening of contemporary dance at Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. 6 p.m. [Free]

• The weekend-long Boulevard film festival screens comedies, documentaries and shorts at Thalia Spanish Theater in Sunnyside, Queens. 7 p.m. [$10]

• Mets host Nationals, 7:10 p.m. (SNY). Yankees at Indians, 7:10 p.m. (YES).

• Alternate-side parking remains in effect until Aug. 15.

• Weekend travel hassles: Check subway disruptions and a list of street closings.

Saturday

• Visit Manhattan’s Brooklyn Bridge Beach (which is typically off-limits), hop on a boat tour or watch a kayak race at the City of Water Day at various locations in Lower Manhattan. 10 a.m. [Free]

• Join the historian Jack Eichenbaum on the tour “The New World of the Number 7 Train,” with stops along the north Queens transportation corridor. 10 a.m. [$49]

• Bring your kids to the bilingual one-woman show “The Colors of Frida/Los Colores de Frida” at Flushing Town Hall in Queens. 10 a.m. and noon. [$14]

• During Open Garden Day, dozens of community gardens across the city open their doors for music, cooking demonstrations and workshops. 11 a.m. [Free]

• Learn survival Spanish at Kingsbridge Library in the Bronx. 3 p.m. [Free]

• In the World Cup, Belgium takes on England for third place at 10 a.m. (Fox). Mets host Nationals, 4:10 p.m. (WPIX). Yankees at Indians, 7:15 p.m. (Fox).

Sunday

• Learn basic canoeing at Harlem Meer in Central Park. Noon. [Free]

• The comedian Yannis Pappas performs al fresco at the Castle Clinton lawn in the Battery in Lower Manhattan. 2 p.m. [Free]

• Join a discussion among musicians, “The Soulfulness of David Bowie,” at the Brooklyn Museum. 2 p.m. [$16]

• Join the author and historian Joseph Alexiou for a discussion, “Gangs of Gowanus: 150 Years of Locally Organized Crime,” at Parklife in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 3 p.m. [Free]

• An afternoon of big brass band music among the plants and flower of the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing. 3:30 p.m. [$6]

• In the World Cup, France takes on Croatia in the finals at 11 a.m. (Fox). Mets host Nationals, 1:10 p.m. (WPIX). Yankees at Indians, 1:10 p.m. (YES).

• For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.

It’s Invasive Species Awareness Week!

(But of course you knew that already, right?)

In the spirit of getting to know our foreign flora and fauna, we spoke with a few invasive species experts about the most annoying pests in the city.

Italian arum. This brightly colored ornamental plant has been spotted in northern Manhattan parks, including Inwood Hill and Fort Tyron, said Kristy King, the director of natural areas restoration and management at the Parks Department. “It’s really pretty, but it’s totally invasive and highly noxious. If people touch it, it cases a horrible rash.” Eating it, of course, is out of the question. Ms. King suspects it came from a neighboring garden.

Stinging nettle. This European and Asian transplant is sometimes used as an herb or in food, “but while it looks innocuous, if you touch it, it’s really painful,” Ms. King said. It dies every year during the colder months, but it roars back in the summer. It has taken over large areas of the Bronx River corridor, Ms. King said.

Asian tiger mosquito. If you’re bitten during the day in the city, there’s a good chance it’s an Asian tiger mosquito. These bloodsuckers are much more aggressive than our native species and also feed on people during the day, instead of just at dusk or dawn. They are thought to have arrived in the United States in 1985 in a shipment of used tires from Japan. [Here are some tips for mosquito season.]

Emerald ash borer. This green beetle may look pretty fabulous in its glittery exoskeleton, but it feeds on the tissue just below the tree bark and can take down an ash tree within two to four years, said Greg Elliffe, the district manager of The Care of Trees, a Davey company. They’ve been seen north of the Bronx, and trees at Woodlawn Cemetery were recently treated to prevent the spread of the bug.

If you head into the great outdoors this weekend, here are a few tips to prevent the spread of these invasive species.

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