Just over a year after opening to a wave of hype, Central Park’s newest and biggest public pool is dealing with the exact problem its predecessor was supposed to fix: water where it shouldn’t be.
The Gottesman Pool at the Davis Center, tucked into the northern edge of Central Park near the Harlem Meer, is currently closed after flooding knocked out one of its two main pumps and the adjacent splash pad, according to West Side Rag.
NYC Parks initially chalked the closure up to a vague “mechanical issue,” but a spokesperson later confirmed to the outlet that the real culprit is flooding, and there’s currently no confirmed reopening date.
The pool that was supposed to fix this exact problem
There’s a bit of irony buried in this closure.
The Gottesman Pool opened in June 2025 as the centerpiece of the $160 million Davis Center, a project specifically designed to replace the old Lasker Rink and Pool, a 1960s facility that was built directly on top of a culverted stream, blocked water flow to the Meer, and “leaked and flooded during heavy rain” for decades before it was finally torn down.
The new pool was billed as the fix.
At 285 by 120 feet, it’s larger than an Olympic-size pool and ranks as the eighth-largest pool in New York City, one of only a handful in the five boroughs big enough to accommodate 50-meter lap swimming.
It’s also a genuine design flex: the oval-shaped pool sits behind glass doors and can be converted into an ice rink in winter or a lawn in the spring and fall.
Which makes it sting a little more that, just one summer in, water has managed to take the whole thing offline anyway.
What this means if you had pool plans this weekend
A few key details are worth knowing if Gottesman was on your Labor Day agenda:
- There is currently no official reopening date. An earlier Parks notice suggested the pool might reopen the following Monday, but that date was quietly removed from the pool’s website, leaving swimmers with an official message that simply reads closed, with an apology for the inconvenience.
- Adult lap-swim hours are gone for the season regardless. Those sessions ended Friday, August 28, so even a fast fix won’t bring lap swimming back before fall.
- The clock is ticking either way. All of NYC’s outdoor pools, including Gottesman, are scheduled to close for the season on September 13, per NYC Parks, which leaves a short window even in the best-case scenario.
Where else to cool off this Labor Day weekend
The good news is Gottesman is one pool among dozens.
NYC Parks runs more than 50 free outdoor pools across the five boroughs, all open daily from 11 am to 7 pm (with a cleaning break from 3 to 4 pm) through September 13. A few standouts worth the trip:
- Astoria Pool in Queens holds the title of the city’s single biggest public pool, and it’s completely free
- Jackie Robinson Pool in Harlem, a short trip from where Gottesman sits, for anyone who wants to stay close to the same neighborhood
- Any of the city’s other outdoor pools, searchable through NYC Parks’ own pool locator, which lists hours and status for every public pool in the system
What the weather actually looks like
If you’re weighing a pool day against other Labor Day weekend plans, the forecast is surprisingly cooperating!
According to AccuWeather’s weekly outlook, Saturday and Monday are looking to be the best days in this weekend for sun, with temperatures hovering around the high 70s / low 80s for the long weekend.
So yes, it’s still very much pool weather, just maybe not at this particular pool for now.