East River Swimming Pool Could Happen As City Takes Plunge

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — The city's taking the plunge and pursuing plans to install a self-filtering pool in the East River on the Lower East Side.

The city's Economic Development Corporation called on interested pool operators Wednesday to submit a plan — floated for nearly a decade by the non-profit +POOL — that would bring back a tradition from the 1800s of swimming in the East River.

The goal of the solicitation, called a "requests for expressions of interest," is "to be able to provide the public with a swim facility which is capable of filtering the waters of the East River to enable safe recreational access to clean water."

The project would be the first urban river swimming facility in the country, the proposal says. It would let swimmers dive back in the East River, a "lapsed tradition" that dates back to the 1800s.

It would be located somewhere north of the Brooklyn Bridge and just south of Pier 35, which was revamped last year with new seating, plants, a mussel restoration area, and massive swings in the Two Bridges neighborhood.

EDC's request from possible pool developers comes nearly a decade after the non-profit +POOL proposed a 9,000-square-foot river pool. The group had launched a series of KickStarters and set up a lab on Pier 40 to test its filtration system, Curbed reported back in 2014.

"We're looking forward to responding," deputy director of +POOL Kara Meyer told THE CITY, which first reported on the reignited possibility of a Lower East Side river pool.

The possibility of a filtering river pool comes as the east side waterfront is anticipating a string of changes in the coming years.

Across the street from a possible future swim spot, four proposed, 75 percent luxury unit towers are in the midst of a legal battle Manhattan politicians and neighborhood groups, some who want to force the project through a lengthier public review to give politicians more leverage.

Two resiliency projects will soon be underway on the east side and down through Two Bridges — the latter which would break ground in 2021, the EDC noted in its call for pool operators.

An EDC spokesperson said the agency looks "forward to examining the viability of this project which aims to promote a sustainable approach to enjoying our rivers and creatively activates the waterfront for the enjoyment of New Yorkers."

EDC says it will evaluate proposals and update stakeholders through the process. Permits, approvals and funding would have to be obtained by interested pool operators.

Proposals are due Nov. 1.