Great NEWS! The City is not cutting this service. The pool stays open!!

The Douglass/Degraw Pool located at the Thomas Greene Park is located between 3rd and 4th Avenue in Brooklyn. It is one of the services Mayor Bloomberg is planning to close.

  We, the undersigned, call upon NYC government to stop this closure. 

 * This pool provides free services for people from local communities like Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, downtown Brooklyn, & Fort Greene,and even as far as Bayridge

  * The pool is only one of 8 pools in the city that is wheelchair accessible.

* The pool grounds actually has two pools: an intermediate size (75'x60'x3') and a wading size (24'x24'1')

  * The pool has a gradual 1' depth wading pool for infants/toddlers. This is a unique feature that offers safety and security for young children that are learning to swim/get accustomed to water.

  *The wading pool also has a shaded area and is separated from the rest of the grounds to ensure safety.

  *The Pool is adjacent to the playground, basketball courts, and a handball court which are all part of the Thomas Greene Park.

  * It provides services for the many children who live in local city Housing Developments - Gowanus Houses and Wycoff Gardens - and is within walking distance.

  * The pool also offers free swimming lessons for children which parents in the area may not be able to afford.

  * The pool provides free lunches.

  * There is not any other pool in the area. Pools like Red Hook are already overcrowded and this may cause more overcrowding for people who are able to travel that distance. The cancellation of the B77 also makes access to the Red Hook pool even harder.

* This pool does NOT service an industrial area but residents of the community. 

  * There is not a pool at Pier 6 (Brooklyn Bridge Park)

  There is simply no service like this for the people in the area. It is used by a diverse range of people from all socio-economic backgrounds. Many people enjoy their community in the summer and the Douglass Degraw Pool has been an institution and a must for many families.

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