Astoria Park Pool

I grew up in Queens Bridge and Astoria Pool was the neighborhood pool. We use to ride our bikes up to Astoria and hit the diving boards, those were great times.

I had no Idea it was the biggest pools in NY, it was just the fun local pool. The good news is, that the pool was free then and it is still FREE, and most people in NY still don't know it is there. Now a days they only let in 3,000 people which, makes it mush more comfortable then the old days.

All you runners who run in Central Park, or on the East River, you should try this side of the East River. Astoria Park is a great park to run in and then go for a swim.

The little pool, the one for the little children has been upgraded with big modern work of art Johnny Pump like sprinklers and they have some palm trees and lounge chairs to get some sun, I love the improvements.

The bad news, they have closed the famous diving boards and platforms in the 32 foot pool, we use to call it the big pool. Lap swim does not start until 7pm. I was told in 2008 that only life guards could use the Olympic 8 lane lap section of the pool, boo.

Recommendations:

1.Open the big pool, it is the best part of the pool. It is a rear and beautiful sight to see divers going off the big boards and platforms. The average visitor and the young people love the small boards and getting into the deep water.

2. In 2009 the 8 lane section of the pool was open. I was glad to see they killed that life guard only crap. 1 or 2 lanes for Life Guards sometimes OK, but all 8 lanes all day, give me a break. 7pm lap swim, for the serious swimmers, after the pool is closed is a good service. I used it and like it. However, during the day the lap pool should be open (NO CHILDREN) signs posted. I got a few laps in, with no more difficulty then crossing the street at 42nd and Broadway. Hey, its New York we are accustom to the crowds. Laps should always be a challenge in a New York pool, just like walking.

I moved out of the city of my birth, and you know I built a pool in my back yard. I have been around the world and back and their is nothing like Astoria Pool.

I still love the park and my pool in the town so nice, they named it twice.

It's been about 20 years since I've last been to this Pool. Back in Middle School during the Summer, my class would come here at least twice a Summer and it's always been a blast. Now as an almost middle aged adult in an attempt to weather through almost triple digit weather, Astoria Pool hasn't lost its charm. As good as the trip was, it isn't perfect.

Since it was a hot day there was a rather long queue that I had to wait through, which fortunately wasn't as long as I thought it would be. There are a couple of rules and regulations which do make enough sense to follow. No electronics in the pool area, you must have a lock for your locker and shower before and after being in the pool, a towel is recommended.

The one drawback would be the locker rooms. I dunno how the women's one looks like since I'm a man but the men's locker leaves a lot to be desired. I know it's a public use facility but it could be more taken care of so it would look less like a Gulag from Call of Duty: Warzone, plus the lockers are pretty small, I was amazed to fit all of my stuff in there. Other than that, it's a nice way to kill some time on a hot day. Be mindful of their schedule though because an hour break is utilized from 3 to 4 PM.

They spent $19 million dollars and 2 years to renovate this, the city's largest pool, but they forgot to renovate the locker rooms and forgot to hire enough lifeguards.

This means people have to wait 1-2 hours in line to get in. Once inside you are squeezed into only a small portion of the pool while the rest is left empty because there aren't enough lifeguards.

Swim lap hours are very marginal, meaning 11:00am-1:30pm and 4-5pm. This is only if you can endure the long 1-2 hour wait to get in.

Congrats city of NY you've managed to build a $19 million dollar urinal.

Astoria Park Pool just opened last week after being closed for a 2-year $19M renovations. Plenty of photo ops had occurred for them to ignore the fact that 25% of the "people" are allowed in at a time. There are huuuuuge lines that wrap around the park before 11am and they won't open the pool unless nypd arrives. Everyday this week, they've been opening around 11:30ish until nypd arrive. If you find this to be unjust, feel free to write letters to your council representative letting them know having all the photo op inauguration won't justify the double speak.

A couple of tips before you head out here:

1- you must have swim attire! don't wear basketball shorts and a shirt inside- they simply will give you the no entry side eye. Shorts must have the mesh liner.
2- bring a lock, as they don't allow electronics & bags at the pool. If you have a key and headed to the locker room, there will be a worker patting you down.
3- certain goggles and life vest are questionable: I would ask before throwing a fit we saw on plenty days. (Vest needs to have a strap going through the crotch)
4- they make you take a shower before entering the pool.
5- only towels, water bottles and sunscreen allowed inside the pool area. They offer a free sunscreen pump if you forget to bring one

The "strictness" all depends on the worker that stops you. Advice: It's best to not get into a screaming match with the workers. Take out your frustration out on the mayor for their budget cuts on lifeguards and not on the city workers simply doing their job. We must unite and not divide and project where the accountability should go.. Typical Shenanigans for New Yorkers to endure to enjoy a nice dip in their newly renovated pool.

Come Early for some elbow space or come late for the wait time.

I came on a Sunday morning for the 11:00am- 2:45pm shift. The line to get in the pool was very long but it moved very quickly and we only waited about 15 minutes to get inside. The locker room is huge and has plenty of lockers, showers and dressing stalls to change into. The pool is Olympic size and gargantuan with an amazing view of the bridge. The best part is the way it's divided. There's a section with lanes for swimmers who want to do laps. A tanning section, away from the pool where you can lay out towels and tan or read a book. Areas designated for food consumption as they do have a food stand that sells burgers, hot dogs etc. all at reasonable prices from $6-$14. A playground right next door with sprinklers and jungle gym. And if you don't want to get into the water but enjoy the view there's a terrace outside of the pool that owns you to see over the pool and bridge.

Terrible management and unhelpful employees. Only half the swimming area is open due to lack of lifeguards. The pool is often closed due to contamination and the need to clean it using harsh chemicals like bleach. Usually by "contaminated" they are referring to human waste.

Horrible experience, they would rush you out of the not only swimming pool but even the exit to the playground, you would only have 10 mins to change or shower while there are other 200 something people also changing. Their way of treating people to leave the pool is very disgusting.

$19 M investment in what? Several lifegard chairs???? Astoria Park swimming pool is absolutely disgusting. There is dirt on the bottom of the pool. Waiting time to get in 1.5 hrs to find out that swimming is not allowed. Only middle part of pool was open for urination. Please update your website and notify citizens who are looking to swimm that this is not possible in Astoria Park pool. Extremely rude and disrispectfu people are working there. Summer 2024 experience

Great park! Super fun for picnics. Sprinklers open before pool. Walk past a waterfront. There's a skate park too

The first thought I had was: "This pool is massive!". Measuring 330' (100m) x 165' (50m) and designed by John M. Hatton, this is in fact the largest of the eleven pools in New York City that were completed by the Works Progress Administration in 1936, and can accommodate 5,570 bathers at a time [1]. It is basically four Olympic-sized pools side-by-side, and it in fact hosted the trials for the summer Olympics in 1936, 1952, and 1964.

It is totally free; you don't need a NYC Parks & Recreation membership to enjoy this pool. What you need is a bathing suit and a lock; the guards are very strict about this, and will check all bags.

Once inside, the changing area is massive. The bathrooms and communal showers are probably the original ones from 1936, but in the end how much time are you going to spend in these showers.

The pool is divided in several areas specifically dedicated to lap swimming, bathing, and shallow pool for small kids. There is plenty of room on the bleachers for your towels, and you may even be able to score one of the chaise lounge chairs by the now-covered diving pool.

If you want to do lap swimming, keep in mind a few things:
- There aren't specific lanes: it's free-for-all, and you only use the markings at the bottom of the pool as marking.
- This means that you have to swim always facing forward in order to avoid collisions.
- Similarly, you should also check if anyone is swimming towards you before you start the next lap (i.e. for your own safety you may have to avoid flip turns)
- About half of the people in the lap swimming area are slow and swim breast strokes only.
- Occasionally you may have a guy who stops swimming and starts walking, or people who do not realize this area is for lap swimming only. The lifeguards try to keep people swimming continuously, but there will be disruptions.
- Because of what I mentioned above, it is difficult to get into any kind of rhythm; however, since the pool is much larger than your average 25'/25m pool, you get a lot of bang for your lap. Also, much less busy than other public pools I've been to for lap swimming.
- Best time for lap swimming may be at around 12 noon, 1h after the pool opened (it's busier right when it opens).

Food is not allowed, but there is a food stand on the west side of the pool.

The few times I have been here the pool was never busy. This is true also for Astoria Park: Perhaps because it is pretty far from the subway, and the area is very residential, it is frequented mostly by locals who live nearby. If you have a car, however, this place is fantastic.

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[1] https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/astoria-park/facilities/outdoor-pools/astoria-pool

Astoria pool? Or Astoria prison complex? First of all lets start off with what happens before you even enter the pool. They nitpick everything, your lock size, your bag, etc. That's fine but make sure you have the right lock or else they will try to charge you $15 for a $3 lock. I know economics but I also understand robbery. Then, the locker room situation. The guards (wardens) are screaming at you to hurry up, you need to take a prison shower, and open your towel to the guards (sorry,warden) the pool is what you expect of a free public pool. Astoria pool is the largest public pool in the tri-state area (thank you, Robert Moses) the old out-of-order diving boards are fun to look at, and with its huge size you hardly bump into people.


The pool is a fun time, but the people in charge of it make it not-so-great.