Flushing Meadows Corona Park Pool

The place consists of a pool and a skating ring. The pool has three parts, where one is reserved for open swim, another for lap swim, and the third for rental purposes. The places consists of third levels. The easiest way to recognize the place is the two hanging beams from the Roosevelt Avenue bridge that passes over the Wan Wyck Expressway.

Swimmers openly spit and blow their noses in the pool. There are multiple signs in different languages but people still do it.
It’s pretty disgusting.
I’m not talking a small spit. These people are winding up as if they’re pitching spit to home plate.
I’ve seen the staff allow people who spit and blow their noses to remain.

Basically any time you read a Unilocal review for a New York establishment, just add half a star because NY’ers are complainers, and nowhere is this more apparent than in reviews for this pool. This pool is really nice, especially considering that $ 150 per year gets you access to ALL of the recreation centers including this one. Of all pools I’ve tried, this one hits a solid B+ in cleanliness, customer service, and locker rooms.
If you’ve been to Charlie Sava Pool in San Francisco, this is pretty much the same deal: very nice pool, big, great natural light, reasonably attentive lifeguards– but terrible, outdated, TINY locker rooms. Seriously, bring two locks so that you can use one (shoe-​box sized) locker for your bag, and one locker for your clothes and shoes. There are about 30 full-​length (but narrower than average) lockers, about 60 half-​length, and I want to say about 150 shoe-​box sized lockers in the locker room, which is uncomfortably tight (you know how a tent will be advertised for «four men» but when you get the tent it would only work if those four men are really, really close friends? And have no personal possessions? It’s like that. My suggestion is change quickly in the shower cubicle, then go outside the locker room to re-​pack your things and put your shoes on.) It’s not like they can change this, but if anyone from the Parks & Rec department is reading this, please consider renovating with larger lockers. Like 40%+ of this city does not have a car, so you need to design for the fact that most of your users are not going to be able to leave stuff in a trunk. There are something like 8 – 10 showers, most with curtains, and I’ve never had to wait for one.
The service is basically fine, just inattentive and uninterested, AKA par for NY customer service. If you care to ask a question, it will be answered begrudgingly but politely, as if the staff were astonished that anyone would even care about anything. They’ve been courteous but not welcoming or enthusiastic, which is already a higher bar than the service at most businesses I’ve encountered in New York, so I’m thankful. I have no problems with the service here, though it could be better. I’m trans and I’m pretty sure they have my back if/​when people give me crap about it, and that’s all I’m really worried about.
It’s reasonably clean, both the pool and the locker rooms, considering that it’s a public facility open 7 days a week. I’m actually pretty impressed that they maintain it as well as they do. The amount of random crud on the bottom is as expected, the water doesn’t taste weird and is quite clear, and it’s been a month and I haven’t erupted into any horrible skin problems, so I’ll consider that a success. Most people seem to wear rubber sandals in the shower, but not everyone, and most people don’t seem to use soap in showers, opting instead to just rinse off. This is pretty standard for pools that don’t have a gym attached, and I’ll continue to believe that chlorine kills everything and don’t tell me different, I need to sleep at night. If you practice good showering and handwashing at home –and you should if you swim here and/​or ride the subway!– you shouldn’t worry.
Rules: I appreciate that they absolutely will not let you in without a cap and serious lock, which is actually enforced. The website rules about men’s swimsuits requiring a mesh lining and the no-​electronic-​devices rules should be clarified to state that Speedos and jammers are allowed, and that bone-​conduction swim radios are also allowed provided they don’t broadcast outside your head. I haven’t tried with fins or hand paddles yet, but I suspect you’d want to ask first. I do frequently see kickboards used in lap swimming, so that may be OK. Lane speed is not enforced in any way, but I suspect that if people were causing a hazard the lifeguards would do something. Your standard mix of polite and oblivious swimmers applies here as it does at other pools; the clientele skews older at the times I visit.
The average speed is less than a mile an hour in the medium lanes, and most swimmers don’t appear to be anywhere near two miles an hour in the fast lane, but maybe I’m not coming at the right time (I usually show up mid-​afternoon and late evenings– maybe the serious swimmers are in the early morning?) There are always too many people in the locker rooms because the locker rooms are too damn small, but I usually don’t swim with more than 3 other people in a lane. The convention here is circles, not split lanes, even when only two swimmers are sharing a lane. The lanes are wide compared to most places in San Francisco and most non-​Olympic pools.
The biggest factor for me is that they have lap swim at most time when the pool is open, so if your work schedule is weird, you can probably still find a window of time for swimming every day of the week. That, the reasonable quality, and the extreme cheapness make this my new home pool!

If you are a clean freak like myself, do yourself a huge favor and go nowhere near this pool.
THIS FACILITY IS FILTHY DIRTY!!!
I don’t understand why NYS health department allows this place to operate.
It seems like they clean the pool once every few months (when they close the pool access for 1 week), however, because it’s ALWAYS super crowded and understaffed it’s always filthy and within days from cleaning it’s as filthy as before.
— you see toilet tissue floating in the water, clogs of hair, walls and bottom of the pool are visibly stained with who knows what (you might think that chlorine would kill mold)
— shower rooms’ tiles are cracked and pieces that fell off are not replaced, I saw worms coming from behind one of the broken tiles, shower curtains are all either missing or half torn and are covered with mold because ventilation is horrible (the vent in the ceiling is covered with half an inch of filth stuck on it), half of the shower heads are broken as well. Soap holders/​shelves are all broken off as well. I even offered a pool manager to donate shower curtains if they would just install them (manager refused my offer saying that all supplies have to come through official source)
— the management will not allow anyone go in the water without a shower cap (seems understandable so hair doesn’t clog the drains), but guess what, I saw dudes (several times) with beards down to their chests and three quarter long religious cotton underpants on; and indian women in full body cotton outfit (pants and shirt /​use your imagination) splashing away. I understand religious believes are allowed but rules are rules and need to be followed
— the swimming lanes are severely overcrowded and are not controlled by staff as how many people could be in each lane causing up to 10 people in it and 2 – 3 people are just chilling on each end of the lane permanently (the kiddy pool side of the pool is a total disorder paradise, no comments, you just have to see it)
— changing /​locker rooms are a big joke as well. This is a huge facility but once you enter the changing rooms you will be shocked how small and tiny the rooms are. Forget privacy, you will be rubbing against people next to you however you try not to.
— the lockers are so tiny you can not put a pair of boots and a bag in them (everything has to be squeezed in (forget it if it’s cold out and you have a winter jacket — IT WILL NOT FIT).
— this place was closed down because of contamination more times than I have fingers on my hands last summer. In 6 months my wife and I were members I had severe skin rash on my legs twice
STEER CLEAR FROM THIS PLACE UNLESS AN IDEA OF SWIMMING IN A TOILET BOWL WATER IDEA ENTERTAINS YOU

This place is tooooooo crowd… I paid $ 75dollars .It does not worth it at ALLLL… Could months passed, I only had chance went there once… Either I was told pool was full, or I was told I had to wait at least one hour to get in… Terrible…Pay annal fee do not worth it at all… BE AWEAR!

This pool is a great value for the price. The annual cost for individuals under 24 is only $ 25 (and I believe $ 50 for individuals over 24). The pool is always very busy, even right when it opens at 6am. The pool is large and clean– they do not have kick boards or pull-​buoys to use, you must bring your own. You must remember to bring a combination lock and swim cap or you will not be allowed to enter the pool. The locker rooms and lockers are very small, but generally clean. They are usually very crowded and there is not a lot of room to spread out. There are lifeguards on duty at all times. Overall, a good deal once you get used to sharing a swim lane.

first time to swim and it was awsome! very affordable for a walk-​in $ 10 all day pass! just bring huge lock and swimming cap but if u dnt have and ur already there u can buy in the ice skating shop. will come back soon. love the pool lap thou it gets crowded but people their are all nice and will give way. clean pools

Its cheap at 75 $ for 6 months but your definitely not swimming alone. English and manners are in short supply here with a lot of the fast swimmers choosing the slow lanes with little regard for others around them .On the up side the water seems to be well maintained.

It starts getting very crowded in the spring. Don’t look for any manners from swimmers sharing your lane. Locker room and lockers are SMALL. Still a good value though.
I’m glad they require swim caps, but what’s the point when a person with a ton of body hair gets in?
4÷21÷2015 — half of the men’s showers are broken.
5÷7÷2015 — half of the men’s showers are still broken.
5÷14÷2015 — Down to 4 working showers in the men’s locker.
6÷2÷2015 — May have fixed 1 shower but curtains only in 3 showers.
6÷25÷2015 — Only 4 broken showers now. Woohoo!

Hidden gem. $ 75 for a six month swim pass. Swim cap & lock are required for admittance. It gets crowded during before work and after work hours.
My only complaint is the locker rooms. For a facility of this size the locker rooms are tiny. It’s get crowed very quickly and it’s no fun bumping into naked bodies.

On paper, this pool has everything going for it:
Nice, clean, and super-​bright pool; cheap membership[1]; lap swimming all day every day; clean changing room, etc…
As I accessed the pool, the first thing I thought was «Wow, so much light!». This pool may well be the brightest I’ve ever been to, with the huge window flooding the huge space with endless natural light. Even though this is an Olympic, 50m pool, it is divided in two, 25m pools: one half is used for competitive training/​swimming clubs, the other half for lap swimming. Lap swimming is on all day every day during hours of operation[2].
However, there are several BIG problems with this pool:
1. The changing room is tiny, and it can get uncomfortably crowded. If one person is sitting at the bench changing, another one cannot go through. There are not enough lockers, and most of them are very small. Even the tall lockers are small, and you won’t be able to fit your clothes, a coat, and a bag in the winter. Moreover, there are only a handful of these «tall» lockers; the majority of them are
lilliputian.
2. Lap swim rules are somewhat confusing: I like to do underwater laps, which are allowed, but you cannot use a mask. Basically you cannot use anything that covers your nose. However, nose clips are clearly allowed, since many swimmers use them. Go figure.
3. The pool does not provides boards or anything like that. If you want a board to do some leg-​only laps, you will have to bring your own.
4. The MAJOR ISSUE, however, is that most of the swimmers occupying the lap lanes are seniors doing breast strokes independently of fast vs. slow lanes. If you are doing breast strokes, you are NOT fast. If, like it often happens, there are more than 2 people doing breast strokes in the «fast» lane, it will be virtually impossible for you to get into any type of rhythm.
If you like to lounge around the pool and swim leisurely, you may like this pool a lot. If you’re serious about lap swimming, however, you will find swimming in this pool frustrating.
I hate to give such a beautiful facility a negative rating, but if you’re serious about swimming, and you don’t belong to a club affiliated to this pool, you may want to swim someplace else.
— — — — — -
[1] The $ 75 citywide membership will get you in in all of NYC recreation centers for 6 months.
[2] Monday — Friday: 6:00 AM — 10:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM — 10:00 PM
Sunday: 9:00 AM — 8:00 PM

Olympic size public pool? YES! The facilities are relatively new so it’s very bright and modern! The pool is located in the same building as the ice skating rink (upstairs from the lobby). The price is pretty cheap too. I purchased a 6 month membership for $ 75 and that’s for unlimited visits! When you enter, you have to check in at the desk and they make sure you have a padlock and a swim cap! They will not let you in without those items but you might be able to borrow one from their lost and found box. The locker rooms are huge, but the lockers are mostly small. There are some tall lockers but they get taken quickly during peak hours. There are also showers and bathrooms in the locker room. The locker room is standard, not as well kept as I would like but hey, it’s public, I shouldn’t complain.
The pool is beautiful. There are windows so you can see outdoors when you’re swimming. There’s an open pool area and laps. Sometimes, the ends of the pool are taken by classes or swim meets. Lifeguards sit on both sides of the pool. Watch out for strict lifeguards! I love/​hate how regulated they are. If you are too close to the line or doing any tiny thing wrong, they will blow their whistle at you. I do like how it keeps people in line but I get paranoid every time I hear the whistle. The pool also has a spectator area. There’s a nice big clock located above the pool too!
Check the times online before you go, sometimes open swim is closed for classes.

I debated between a 3 and 4 star review for this one, but it’s ultimately getting 3. It may go up with time if they can fix the lap swim situation!
Pros:
–Price. It’s only $ 25/​year for «young adults» to get a pass to any NYC rec department. It’s a really sweet deal. Even if you only use it 5 – 6 times, you’re saving money over the day pass.
–Pool. It’s huge, perfect temp, well-​maintained, and in a gorgeous building with tons of floor to ceiling windows.
–Every employee I interacted with was friendly and courteous. I haven’t had a bad customer service experience at all.
–Sink and toilet area of the locker room is clean.
Cons:
–Locker rooms are GROSS. The floor is covered with hair, dirt tracked in by shoes, bandaids, and other locker-​room grossness.
–For the number of people the pool serves, the showers and lockers are really lacking. Very few of both. Most of the lockers are just tiny things that would fit a pair of shoes and a cellphone. Very few that you could stuff a whole gym bag into.
–The privacy situation could be a con for some. I’m not concerned about locker-​room nudity, but if you are, this is not going to be a friendly place for you. The shower curtains are tiny and stuck together, and many people walk around, change, and shower nude.
Biggest Con:
–Lap swim rules are not great. Most of the clientele (not surprisingly) are slow-​swimming seniors. I swim quickly and want a tougher workout than just a few laps of breaststroke. Lanes are SUPPOSED to be separated into slow/​medium/​fast, but when I got there there were no signs, and I couldn’t see a real difference in any of the lanes. I asked the lifeguard and he told me to just pick one. The people in my lane were really friendly and courteous, and let me go ahead of them without comment.

$ 75 for a half year membership or $ 5 for a day pass doing laps for ages over 24. I went with the day pass because I wasn’t sure if I would be coming that often. Membership also allows access to all of the city’s recreation centers and another one close to the pool is the recreation center across the street that has a gym, indoor track and basketball court.
The customer service people are very nice and helpful.
To enter the pool, I had to go upstairs. The locker rooms were quite dirty. I just tried not to look down at the dirty floors. There are showers and separate bathrooms.
The pool itself is very nice. The water wasn’t too cold so entering it was too bad. For lap swim, it’s separated into slow, medium and fast lanes.
Remember to bring a lock and cap because they will check to make sure you have it before letting you enter.
I took off one star because the locker rooms were dirty but overall, very nice pool.
Something to note is that the customer service person told me that in the summer months when it’s busy, they may limit day passes to only one hour.

Overall this is a nice place but it needs some improvements.
The pool– this pool has lanes for fast, medium, and slow level swimmers and another side for open swim for those who don’t want to swim in lanes. It can get really crowded during certain hours. Mainly when kids are getting off of school and adults are leaving work and also on weekends. Kids can get unruly during open swim and often splash and jump around oblivious to the fact that they are sharing a space with everyone else. The lanes get crowded and people can be inconsiderate. Swimming under the ropes, people swimming in lanes that are not appropriate for their skill level, and people who hug the walls for dear life can sometimes make finishing a lap difficult.
The locker room– For a place that services so many people the locker room really falls short. You get a few nice sized lockers but that’s all. Most of them are small and can’t accommodate much let alone a gym bag. Make sure to bring your own soap. These showers do not come equipped with soap, shelves are missing in a lot of them, and the drain is usually hairy. Privacy is also at a premium here. You get shower curtains that don’t cover much to begin with and on top of that, some of them are broken which leaves you even more exposed. The stalls and urinals are usually immaculate though.
The staff– For the most part they are all pretty cool. I’ve only had one bad run in with them. I was not told that we couldn’t share lockers when I signed up. A misunderstanding but one lady was particularly rude and nasty over a simple misunderstanding. Just cover your bases and make sure they explain all of the rules to you when you are signing up to avoid any issues with the staff.
All of these things can easily be overlooked if you do yourself this one favor. DO NOT GO DURING PEAK HOURS IF ANY OF THESE THINGS ARE UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU. When it isn’t crowded lockers are easy to get, showers are not a hassle, laps are easy, and the open swim area is great.

I joined the NYC Parks & Recreation Center membership just to use the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Aquatic Center. The membership fee used to be half of the current price. But as a public Olympic-​sized pool, $ 150 per year is still a good deal. It also covers the gym across the street.
Since it’s located in the Flushing Meadows Corona Park, it has a nice view in the surrounding area. I enjoy being on the way to the pool.
It can be crowded during peak season/​hour, and the locker room can be a little dirty and smelly. It doesn’t bother me much, considering it has to serve lots of people a day.
I’ve been a member for 3 years now. I am very grateful to have this affordable, conveniently located swimming pool around.

I can’t thank enough for the affordable Parks and Recreation Centers in NYC!!!
I have been a member of NY Parks and Recreation center for 3 years now. I started with a $ 75 per year membership, which was way way cheaper compared to any gym in the city. Last year they raised the price to $ 75 per 6 months, which is still way affordable than any gym in the City.
I like the Flushing Meadow pool more than any other recreation pool in the city. First of all It is the only olympic sized pool in NYC, its the perfect spot for anyone training for Triatholons and Half Ironmans. Their pool is divided into 3 division with middle one seperated for lap swims.
They are usually serious when it comes to lap swim. They have fast, medium and slow lap swim lanes. The life guards keep a watch on the lanes and move the people to slow lanes if they see them swimming very slow.
The other day, I got to the pool area, they was a long line for lap swim. I told the life guard I would like to swim in the fast lane. To my surprise there was a man with Snorkeling equipment wondering around in the fast lanes. I couldn’t understand what he was upto, he wasn’t going to find any corals or fishes in the flushing pool. But, the good part was, as soon the life guard saw him disturbing the other fast swimmers, he asked the guy to move to the common swim area and I got to enter the pool.
I like the organization/​rules and regulations of this pool. It makes it the perfect spot for me to train for my triatholon. I get my long swims done here without any regrets.
The only reason I don’t give this pool a 5* is cause their changing and shower area aren’t the cleaest. But for the price I am paying, I am very happy with what they have to offer.

A sorely needed public pool, this place has been around for a couple of years now. Was a member at the beginning ($ 75 a year, what a deal!) and became a member again this summer (price up to $ 150 now, still a bargain in my eyes). The local YMCA used to have a monopoly in the area for those who wanted a pool/​gym and recreation place and they charged a pretty penny for it. As you can imagine, this place gets PACKED at certain times (5−6pm on weekedays). It’s best to arrive 7pm and after (before they close at 9:45 though) when the crowd is less.
The pool and facility itself is very nice. The building’s design is very striking and the large open windows and seating areas are inviting. Unfortunately, this place has a couple of flaws, one of which is it’s employees! Don’t get me wrong, they are nice people and do their jobs fairly well but at times when it is busy, there is chaos and frustration. Sometimes they will act aloof with their fellow coworkers, which kind of pisses me off and wastes my time. Just scan my card and get me on my way (especially when I have my swim cap and lock out and presented). The system they employ is very confusing and inefficient (consisting of colored wristbands, different times for different types of swimming activities, as well as the holding of pool I.D. cards) and the employees do not do a good job communicating this to the people waiting in line. And when their card scanner breaks, oh boy…
The locker room is pretty decent except its no where near big enough for it’s stated pool capacity (up to 500 people). Sometimes individuals will bump in to each other while changing, or will have to wait to access their lockers. Its kind of cramped when busy. Showers can be a 10+ minute wait as well since there is only about 11 of them. They have a lot of toilets and urinals though… Some of the showers are missing shelves/​hooks and some of the shower heads have low water pressure. These things are rarely fixed or addressed. Kind of disappointing. And one minor gripe, why do some of the older guys shower naked with the curtains open? I mean its there, just close it. I don’t want a free saggy peep show. No thanks.
Overall, its an OK pool. There are some things they need to be addressed. I understand that having so many members can make it difficult to please everyone but it seems like they do not care at times. When it’s not busy, its a quick and convenient swim (free parking available under the expressway bridge) at a bargain price.

Olympic size indoor pool is well maintained. The biggest problem I have here is that this place is packed during the summer time! The line to sign in and get a locker is ridiculous. One side of the pool is open to anyone (mostly children and parents) and the other side of the pool is single lanes. I think it’s 2 people per lane. It’s pretty cool but just imagine the wait time for that. The staff here does a good job cleaning the pool. They get right on it if someone vomits or drops a deuce in the pool. They close the pool down for several hours, sometimes the entire day to clean it.
I really enjoy coming in here during the winter, fall, and spring on weekdays when all the annoying children are in school. They also offer swimming classes and there’s also a ice skating rink on the main floor.

First, I just want to say how impressed I am with the NYC park system.
The membership for the rec centers and pools is only $ 75 per 6 months. If you swim frequently, this is a DEAL. There is also a gym across the street from the Corona Park Pool, equipped with weight room, cardio equipment, courts and indoor track. There is also an ice rink in the same building as the pool, but is an extra cost.
The pool itself is an Olympic sized pool usually split into 3 sections, one for private use, one for lap swim, and one open swim. Lap swim can get crowded, but they limit how many people can be in the pool at the same time, so sharing with 4 other people in a lane is not uncommon. Off times seem to be between 11 — 2 PM. Check the schedule before you go to make sure there isn’t pool cleaning or a swim event going on.
The locker rooms can get a little dirty, but not enough to be super gross. You MUST BRING A CAP AND LOCK or they will not let you in. There are a good amount of showers, lockers, sinks, and toilets. I would bring flip flops if the floors will gross you out. It does for me, but I just barefoot it most of the time.
I wish the older folks and the slower swimmers would swim in appropriate lanes. Sometimes the «fast «lane can go quite slow…