West Village Pool, Rec Center Reopening With New Policies

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Grab a towel, lather up some sunscreen, pack a lunch and get ready for the reopening of a popular recreation center and pool in the West Village.

The community facility is one of more than a dozen across the city that will reopen on Monday after being closed for the entirety of the pandemic, the city announced on Friday.

Tony Dapolito Recreation Center, at 1 Clarkson Street on 7th Avenue, will welcome back its first visitors since it closed temporarily last March amid the onset of the coronavirus.

The recreation center boasts an outdoor and indoor pool, an artificial turf field, basketball courts, ping pong tables, and much more.

Tony Dapolito is one of 13 rec centers around the five boroughs that will reopen Monday, followed by two more on June 23.

New precautions will be in place, including reduced capacity and required mask-wearing. Equipment at the rec centers has been rearranged to maintain social distancing and will be cleaned regularly, the city says.

Many rec centers were repurposed during the pandemic to serve as COVID-19 testing and vaccination centers, mask and food distribution hubs, and education and child care centers.

"As our city continues to take great strides in recovering and reopening, we are thrilled to begin the process of reopening our recreation centers for New Yorkers to enjoy," New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver said in a statement.

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this article.