summertime blues

Security Increased at McCarren Park Pool in Attempt to Thwart Thieves, Teen Backflippers

Children practice their frisking stance. Photo: @NYCMayorsOffice

When asked about the brawling and robberies at the McCarren Park Pool earlier this week, an uncharacteristically grouchy Mayor Bloomberg snapped, “O.K., we’ll put a cop next to every lifeguard in the city.” Apparently he wasn’t being sarcastic! DNA Info reports that there were at least ten NYPD officers and a dozen Parks Department staff at the Greenpoint pool on Wednesday, which typically staffs just two cops, less than a dozen lifeguards, and a handful of other Parks Department employees. A barricade was set up at the park’s entrance and security officers checked swimmers’ bags and made sure they had a towel and a padlock for the lockers.

Unfortunately, there are are already signs that the crackdown may be getting out of hand. A woman says a Parks Department staffer told her and a friend to change in a bathroom stall rather than the locker room because “there are kids around.” The women ignored the staffer, but thankfully using the locker room for its intended purpose didn’t spark another melee.

Security Increased at McCarren Park Pool