Westchester County To Open Public Pools

WHITE PLAINS, NY — There's good news in Westchester for those who want to go swimming. County Executive George Latimer said the county will be opening four of its public pools for the summer.

On Friday, June 26, Saxon Woods Pool in White Plains and Sprain Ridge Pool in Yonkers will open. The following Friday — July 3 — Willson Woods Pool in Mount Vernon and Tibbetts Brook Pool in Yonkers will open to the public.

There are, however, some slight modifications to help ensure safety during the new coronavirus outbreak, he said.

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The modifications are as follows:

• No Aqua Playground at Saxon Woods Pool
• No Aqua Splash Pad at Sprain Ridge Pool
• No Waves in the Wave Pool or Aqua Playground/Splash Pad at Willson Woods Pool
• No Lazy River Tubes, Aqua Playground, Water Slides or Basketball Court at Tibbetts Brook Park Pool

To further ensure safety, the pools will follow state and Westchester County departments of health regulations of 50 percent maximum occupancy. The pools will be first come, first serve entry with two public pool sessions throughout the day. After each session, there will be an hour-long cleaning and disinfecting session.

• Open Session 1: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Clean/Disinfect: 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
• Open Session 2: 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Clean/Disinfect: 6 p.m.-7 p.m.

When Session 1 tickets are sold out, Session 2 tickets will go on sale to remaining patrons. When Session 2 tickets are sold out, no more tickets will be sold for that day. There will be no rain checks, re-entry or refunds.

Parks staff will make announcements every half hour reminding people to use all proper social distancing guidelines. Guests must wear a mask or face covering anytime they are closer than 6 feet from any other guest.

Latimer said that neither concession stands nor locker rooms will be open. Restrooms will be available, and masks will be require to enter them.

He said that the county will not be opening Playland Pool this year. New York State guidelines specify that swimming pools that are near a beach front must remain closed.

During this time, Latimer said, the county will be exploring how quickly renovations to the pool can be completed with the hope that it will be able to open in June 2021. The exact timeline is not yet known.

Coronavirus Update

Regarding the latest numbers for the new coronavirus, Latimer said as of Thursday there are now 33,767 positive cases of the virus, up 76 from yesterday.

The number of active cases — people who tested positive and have since recovered — continues to fall. There are now 1,094 active cases.

The county continues to see an increase in the number of people being tested for the new coronavirus. So far, 171,868 have been tested, up from 168,344 yesterday. That makes the new total 17 percent of the county's population.

There were four deaths overnight, bringing the total number of fatalities to 1,385.

Here is the map showing the number of confirmed positive cases and active cases per community.

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