The McCarren Park pool won’t officially open for the summer season until June 26, but already, there’s a bit of controversy surrounding the pool.
Since its completion in 2012, an 11,000 square foot elevated space designed to hold a poolside cafe has remained empty because the city doesn’t want to pay to make said cafe handicap accessible.
According to the Daily News, after spending $50 million on renovating the once-decrepit pool, the city never put aside the money to install an elevator that would run from the pool’s edge up to the designated cafe space. Without that elevator, the cafe would be in direct violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
While there’s no word on how much an elevator would cost, we’re sure once it’s installed a number of businesses would fight tooth-and-nail to claim such a great seasonal location. But without “significant and expressed interest” from the public, the Parks Department and the city refuses to make the first move.
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