New Boys and Girls Club Pool Still Expected to Open By Month's End

Hoboken mayoral candidate Ruben Ramos issued a statement Thursday blasting the city for missing what he claimed was the July 8 opening date for the new Boys and Girls Club pool on Jefferson Street and failing to announce a revised date for when the pool would open.

“Heat indices have been in the hundreds all week, but this pool is still not open for anyone to use," Ramos said in the statement. "This comes on top of the fact that the 4th Ward’s usual cooling center, the Multi-Service Center, remains closed because of damage caused last year by Sandy. Some of our residents are in life-threatening danger from this heat and the City can’t even fill up a pool for our kids.”

City spokesman Juan Melli declined to respond directly to Ramos' claim, but said July 8 had never been announced as the new pool's opening date and that its installation was still on schedule. A release the city distributed last month stated only that the pool would open in July, and did not specify a date. Melli said the pool is still expected to open by the end of the month.

Fourth Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti, a critic of the Zimmer Administration, said he "knew for a fact" that the pool was supposed to open on July 8 and called Melli's comments, "spin from City Hall."

"[Health and Human Services] Director [Leo] Pellegrini said that pool was supposed to be open July 8," Occhipinti said. "I asked him about it either at a meeting or offline, but that’s the target date. That is when it was supposed to be open."

Pellegrini, who is on vacation, was not available for comment.

Until the Boys and Girls Club pool opens, residents may swim for free at the Hoboken High School swimming pool — which did open, as announced, on July 8 — or purchase a paid membership to swim at the Secaucus municipal pool.

Residents can also beat the heat by visiting the air-conditioned Hoboken Public Library, located at 500 Park Avenue, which is open until 8 p.m. Thursday. A ground floor conference room in City Hall was converted to a cooling center earlier in the day, but closed at 5 p.m.

Melli said the senior portion of the Multi-Service Center, which had served as a cooling center in the past but has been closed since sustaining serious damage during Hurricane Sandy, is also expected to re-open by the end of the month.