I cannot begin to hi-lite all of the great memories I'll be taking from this summer. (More on this next Friday.) But no doubt, one of my Favorite Things of Summer 08 has been taking advantage of the Red Hook Pool. This place is a JAM! Adjacent to to the famous Red Hook Ball Fields, and tucked just behind the housing projects, it is a complete oasis. The pool deck is bare bones, and it is commonly known that the rules here are more strictly enforced than any other pool in the city, but the experience is awesome. The area is huge, and never crowded. And once you find your little patch of pool deck to settle on, if you lay down on your back at just the right angle, all you can see is sky and treetops—nary a building, crane, scaffolding, or water tower in sight. It's like you're not even near the city. As if the setting alone wasn't enough, for me, the best part of the pool is the staff. There's a PA system that is run out of an office in the main building. Throughout the course of the day, the staff will get on the loudspeaker and give shout outs, sing songs or tell jokes. It's kind of ridiculous and kind of awesome—particularly because you can't see where this ubiquitous voice is coming from. Last Saturday, a member of the staff, Big Dog, was playing songs into the PA, and below was one of his hits. So there we sat, taking in the sun, feeling the breeze . . . and rocking out. To the Manhattans.
This place is unquestionably one of my favorite spots in Brooklyn. But hey, don't take this on my word alone. Even Bloomberg digs the Red Hook Pool:
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