New York City officials are resuming a limited amount of free swimming lessons for kids this summer – even as the city faces a post-pandemic lifeguard shortage that has curtailed services and programming at pools and beaches.
Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue announced Friday that 400 kids enrolled in city-run summer camps will be allowed to use six of the city’s outdoor pools.
Camps have not had access to dedicated swim time at the city’s public pools since 2019, because lifeguard shortages since the pandemic have reduced the amount of staffing available for special programs.
Parks department officials say they’re hiring around 900 lifeguards – well under the optimal 1,400 lifeguards – for the season, which starts when city beaches open on Memorial Day weekend. The city’s outdoor pools open in late June.
Donoghue said the city must resume teaching kids how to swim as a survival skill, but also to ensure there will be future lifeguards.
“We’re fortunate that here in New York City we were able to open all of our pools and beaches last summer and we’re committed to doing that again this summer,” Donoghue said in a statement. “But after an aggressive recruitment campaign over the winter it is now abundantly clear that we must continue to plan long term for the lifeguard shortage as we build back our corps to pre-pandemic levels.”
The city is also running a small number of free Learn to Swim programs for kids at the six pools. There will be 1,000 lottery slots for kids, and registration opens in June.
The city’s private camps will not receive swimming permits this summer, which are required for any group that needs dedicated pool space.
Alicia Skovera, executive director of the American Camp Association for New York and New Jersey, said she was “disappointed” by the exclusion.
“Swimming is the hallmark of our day camp programs and the reason many parents send their children to camp,” Skovera said in a statement. “We hope this decision will be reconsidered before camp begins so that more NYC children will have the opportunity to swim this summer.”
The six pools open for swim lessons and parks camps are: Crotona in the Bronx, Red Hook in Brooklyn, Hamilton Fish in Manhattan, and Lyons on Staten Island. In Queens, due to the closure of Astoria Pool for repairs this summer, the parks department will use the Liberty and Fisher pools.
This story has been updated to clarify that the city is expecting to hire 900 lifeguards, but has not completed the hiring yet.
