Floating Pool at Barretto Point Park

It’s hassle free and very clean however the staff are a bit rude. You aren’t allowed to bring in anything not even the clothes you wore to the pool only your towel, sandals and glasses. It’s only 4 feet deep. A beautiful view of the skyline however no phones allowed. The life guards were so friendly and polite however the park and rec staff could use additional training especially when dealing with the public. Overall a safe place to go to for a quick dip in the pool, small kids aren’t allowed. There are a lot of rules and you feel like you are in a museum and are being watched closely at all times.

First off, let me say that I was born and raised in New York. Parks and public pools have been a way of life for all my 24 years. Day camps, weekends, playdates, you name it, I’ve been in parks, beaches, pools, and loved them all. My two friends have moved to New York within the last two years, and so I always love to show them a new side of the city.
I had never been to Barretto Point Park, and only get to the Bronx every so often for the zoo, a ball game, or seeing my grandparents in Woodlawn Cemetery. The park is GORGEOUS. Such a lovely spot with amazing views, everything is new, and we also lucked out on an absolutely beautiful July day. We went to the park specifically to go to the floating pool. I had researched all the yeses and nos on the park’s website, as well as read all the Unilocal reviews I possibly could to make sure the trip would go smoothly.
We all came ready with our suits on, proper attire, combination locks, and ready to be checked and grilled upon entrance. The pool was at capacity, and we had just missed the beginning of a swim session, so we waited about 25 – 30 minutes in line. By the time they started to take us in, we saw them grilling a kid before us about how his suit had no mesh lining, and thus he couldn’t swim, even if it was (and it was) clearly a swimsuit. My friend was wearing speedo-​style swim briefs, and I immediately mentioned it to the guards, who said that if a man’s suit didn’t have mesh lining, it wasn’t officially a swimsuit.
Now, as we had waited for about a half hour, we had plenty of time to read the Parks Department’s official decree of EVERYTHING YOU CANNOT DO, BRING, OR HAVE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. Nowhere on that sign did it mention (even in the swim attire section) about what constitutes a man’s bathing suit. What if someone happened to be a man, but chose to wear a woman’s bathing suit like mine, with a halter top and high waisted bikini bottoms? Is it officially not a bathing suit, because he’s a man, and thus needs mesh lining, lest his balls try to make a break for it?
Never again with NYC public pools. They have officially taken the fun out of a free swim/​free service to the people whose cost of living they keep raising. If it wasn’t an hour and a half from where I live in South Brooklyn, I’d certainly go to the park again. We opted to take the hour long schlep out to Brighton Beach, and had an incredible afternoon on the beach instead. I suggest everyone else skip the pools and make use of the ferries and shuttles around the city to the beaches.

I completely agree with everything Curious G wrote! So, Ditto! This pool and park really are a small oasis in the bx! Pollite staff and clean facilities really are a change of pace compared to many of the city pools I’ve visited. U can take the bx6 to the bx46 and u will be left directly infront of the park. My kids loved it, I loved it! I will definitely be visiting again!

So where shall I begin?
I had a wonderful time at the Floating Pool Lady!
I believe perspective is always important in a review. So I’ll start with I’m 25 years old, I was born and raised in the Bronx. I have traveled to almost every area of the Bronx via mostly public transportation. I went to the pool today with my 12 and 16 years old nieces.
After reading the 7÷12÷2010 post, I was nervous to go to this pool via public transportation and drove from Parkchester (Bronx) over to Barretto Point Park. It was a synch, took 10 minutes. Driving is best.
You definitely want to take the 6 train to Longwood Ave. MTA Travel Planner cannot be trusted all the time.
When I was leaving the pool via public transportation, I had no problem walking the crosswalk for Bruckner Expressway & Southern Blvd. I don’t know why ⁷⁄₁₂ person had trouble with that.
Google maps was on point, it only took 20 minutes from pool to 6 train Longwood station.
Tiffany Street is desolate. I saw several 18 wheelers parked. Yes, there looks to be abandoned damaged cars as well. I saw several auto mechanic shops & warehouses. I walked this path at 3pm. There were plenty of male individuals in the shops and around and not a single one made a catcall or harassed us in any manner. I do have a theory, like animals, humans can smell fear and if you’re not from the Bronx. Once fear is noticed, there are those that will take advantage of it. I & my nieces exuded no fear. I was walking in shorts high on my thighs and none of these men bothered me, so what does that say?
I don’t know about it looking «post-​apocalyse», what an exaggeration! If that was post-​apocalyse, I rather walk Tiffany Street than see the real deal. loL! It was quiet. Thank goodness there was no stray animals, now that could make a difference. I can see how the walk down Tiffany Street is a bit scary but it is broad daylight.
The streets were clean in my opinion. I never saw any blood. I did see some garbage in random places but for an auto mechanic and truck area, that’s nothing. I did see bullet holes in an abandoned building, is that serious? Not in my opinion since Hunts Point was once a «rough» area. Still a little rough but not like the old days.
We did smell something bad for 5 minutes on our walk but that was closer to getting to the Bruckner, not near the park.
Fyi, there is a Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds on Tiffany & Garrison St.
There are 2 sessions at the pool, 11−3pm and then 3−7pm. Sometimes it can be 3 if there are a lot of ppl waiting to get in. We got there before 10am as recommended, it was unnecessary to get there that early today since it was only in the low 80s. At 11am, we were asked if we had a bathing suit, we didn’t show anything but the visible parts on our shoulders. We entered, found the lockers, only took towels as asked by written rules. We turned on the shower to wet ourselves, I don’t know about the «freezing cold spigot» that wouldn’t turn off? There were 3 showers that we all turned on to get wet. All of the Parks staff were kind to us. And there were many staff members at Floating Lady, might I add. I saw at least 6 teen lifeguards, they frequently alternated shifts it seemed. 1 was at first on duty but by 12pm, there were 2.
Rules do say a child must be 4ft 8inches to go in alone, otherwise must be accompanied by adult in swim suit.
My nieces and I had a great time from 11 – 2:30pm. We ran and jumped in the water, we splashed, we played Marco Polo, we chased one another in the water, we swam. We even did some canon balls which is not allowed. Everyone there had a jolly good olé time. Rarely was anyone whistled at and if they were, they were attempting or doing something non-​safe.
We followed the «normal» rules. I’ve been to private pools in the city and places do ask if you’re going to wear anything non-​suit, it must be white because chlorine bleaches colors and the dyes from colored clothing should not enter the water. People don’t need to ingest dyes from clothing. (some of us ppl do get water into our system not by choice)
We took breaks and sat on the lounge chairs and dried in the sun. It’s a bit elaborate how there are 3 big steps (long in W” & H”) to get to the top to sit on the chairs. I loved it!
I also enjoyed laying on the granite floor by the chairs in order to get warm faster.
The park is beautiful. Even I was surprised. You walk Tiffany Street and walking into the park just shocks you that it exists. I saw 3 sprinklers. There was a volley ball area & playground. There is a long pier. So much green around, it was nice to see this park in the manner it has been maintained.
In conclusion, the walk down Tiffany Street could «appear to be safer & normal» but it isn’t. You make the best out of a situation, and this case proves that saying well. The reward of striving forward in the face of obstacles is a sweet one.

As referenced in a Wall Street Journal newspaper blog (
), the worst feature of The Floating Pool Lady swimming-​pool-​on-​a-​barge is the difficulty in getting there.
My friend and I decided not to be put off by others’ fear of the Bronx or derision of public pools as being «ghetto.» So, after a great morning at Orchard Beach (separate review), we traveled back down on the 6 train to the Longwood stop, prepared for a 1-​mile hike to the barge. MTA Trip Planner tells you to go to the Hunts Point stop, then take some bus — don’t do this, because after the bus, you have to walk a mile anyway to get to Barretto Point Park.
We surfaced to a dirty street full of no-​name discount businesses. No big deal — it looked just like North Williamsburg or something, and there were plenty of people going about their daily business. Walking East, we went under the Bruckner Expressway, and suddenly it was like the post-​apocalypse. The pockmarked streets got super wide and empty, and there was not another human being around. There was a four-​way intersection with no lights or stop signs. Random trucks and low-​riding cars with lights creepily on slowed, honked, and stared. One dude screamed, «Goin’ to the POOL???»
At an intersection where there were apartment buildings, hope was restored. But then we took a right onto Tiffany, and then it was all junkyards, auto shops, and warehouses with broken (or bulleted? Seriously…) windows. Here, the catcalls from groups of men, whether they looked like kind grandfathers or teenage thugs, became worse. A couple times, they followed us, making sucking noises, clapping their hands, and shouting. Staring at the stains on the ground, I wondered if they were blood or rust as a montage of every mafia and gangster movie I had ever seen ran through my head. In a moment of hilarity, we saw a wholesome looking «Baby Spinach and Arugula» truck up on a curb… with a shattered windshield. For the first time in my life, my heart palpitated with fear in broad daylight (and I’ve walked alone in rough and poverty-​stricken areas all around the world before.)
The last 100-​yard stretch was permeated with an incredible stench of trash and opened up to a tiny little park with a ribboned gazebo. Someone was actually having a wedding reception there, and there were women and children frolicking in fountains. So weird.
As we walked towards the boat, a young girl with a park shirt on screeched «HEY! Over HERE!» We walked to the entrance, where she was standing with a woman who asked us if we were wearing bathingsuits. «Show me your bottoms,» she commanded.
The locker room was spotless. One freezing cold spigot in the showers spurted water endlessly. I asked a guard if it was possible to shut the water off. «It’s just running,» she said with indifference.
A ramp led us to a blue 82′ x 52′ rectangle of 4-​foot deep water filled with tattooed men in wifebeaters and exultant children. I asked how they’d all gotten there, and they’d done The Walk, too. There was no other way.
Finding a ladder by the one roped off lane, we started to enter. A fat local kid who was about 12 years old played police and asked if we were going to swim laps. Don’t worry, kid, we said, we’d swim laps. The kids next to him shouted, «You’re not even swimming laps!» and I said, «Yeah. You’re not even swimming.» Scowling, he shrugged, and pushed off into a fat kid butterfly stroke for about ten feet. It was like a scene from «Raising Victor Vargas,» but with prepubescents instead of teens.
So we swam. Every once in a while, some 30 year old with crazy eye and gold teeth would jump into the lane and thrash around until one of the vigilant lifeguards would remind him he had to do laps or get lost. And my friend had her breasts touched by the 12-​year old fatty perv. But no matter; we did what we came to do. We saw that the pool existed, and that some locals can get there. Yeah, there were about 20 teen lifeguards and tons of rules, but I’m glad they had jobs, and doing them right to preserve a tiny watery haven in a no-man’s (or rather, no-woman’s) land.
Hey, this is a great, well managed pool, but if you have a vagina, pack a crowbar and some thugs to get to it. I worry about what the people in the East Bronx (especially women and children) have to go through to get to their local pool. As for me, having a choice in the matter, I will probably never come here again. I doubt that this sentiment is the intention of the floating pool; I mean, is the moral of this story that I should on my side of «The Line» (96^th and below), where the scariest thing is wealthy white women in designer gladiator sandals? I hope not.

It is always a great idea to provide activities for kids in the city. Unfortunately it all gets spoiled by an extensive set of rules that are selective depending on which Parks employee you are dealing with.
#1 — if you do not have a bathing suit you cannot go in. That means if mom is on her period and she’s taking the kids to the pool, she can’t go in.
#2 — Must be accompanied by someone 16 years or older. Fair enough, except when #1 applies.
#3 — Nothing but a towel is allowed in the swimming area. No exceptions. Case in point: I take a trip to the Pool with my cousin and her two kids (8yo & 10yo) from out of town. The 10yo has some very severe allergies that require his medication always be near him in case of an attack. Parks employee’s repeatedly tell her she can’t have her EXTREMELY small medicine bag on the pool level. If her kid were to suffer an attack, she’d have to run back up to the lockers, unlock her pad lock, grab the medication and then run back down to her son, at which time he’d probably already have stopped breathing.
#4 — Only white t-​shirts allowed. «Because of the Chlorine». So my first concern about my child drowning would be whether or not I ruin a colored T-​Shirt?
If you are a kid, and your parent or guardian hasn’t followed these rules to the Tee, you don’t get to swim. And even when you do get to swim, you’ll have a Parks Employee blowing his whistle and barking at you not to have fun. You can swim, but no splashing, playing or any other form of water entertainment that you probably enjoy.
Another great perk about this place is that there are no family change rooms. So again, if you are a mother bringing your son to the facility, he’ll have to change by himself in the mens room while you change in the womans room. A male attendant stands by to make sure that you change into shorts and shower (i.e get your hair wet) before going into the pool.
If you are still interested but are uncertain about all the rules, not to worry. there will be a person every 10 feet telling you what you are doing is wrong.