Thursday, July 5, 2012 Page B1
SECTION
LIVING
B
WHAT’S ON? Q DINING GUIDE Q REAL ESTATE Q CLASSIFIED Q SERVICE GUIDE Q PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY Q PHYSICIAN’S DIRECTORY
Photos by Marisol Diaz
VAN CORTLANDT PARK pool opens with a splash on June 28, as temperatures creep into the ‘90s.
Pool opening in Vannie was hardly a flop By Adam McCauley amccauley@riverdalepress.com
T
he Van Cortlandt Park pool opened just in time for the summer’s second heat wave. Those lucky enough to get in early on the scorching opening day on June 28 had to file past a parks employee who recorded their entry on a handheld attendance clicker. Once the metallic clacks reached 682, she politely asked the next visitors to form a line. Ten at a time were allowed in, as demand remained high throughout the day. “The pool is better than the beach,” said Jason Pita, 30, who brought his family, with two young children, to the pool for a picnic. He doesn’t like sand, and said that he appreciates the pool because it is safe and clean. “I’m here hoping to get a tan,” said Zenovia Meledez, 17, as the temperatures crept into the 90s. “Last year we were here every day.” As young and old traded in and out of the crystal blue waters, boys wrestled and roughoused as an occasional lifeguard whistle rang out. The pool area also offers a wading pool, popular for parents and toddlers and two beach volleyball courts. Van Cortlandt Park pool, the first ever Olympic-sized pool contructed in the city, and one of 52 city pools constructed by a collaboration between the Parks Department and the Public Works Administration in the early 1970s, is open every day
HUNDREDS FLOCKED to get cool at the Van Cortlandt Park pool on opening day.
until Labor Day. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a one-hour break for pool cleaning between 3 p.m. and 4 pm. The facility is located at West 242nd St and Broad(Continued on page B2)
Summer meals served up at parks, buildings and schools By Sarina Trangle strangle@riverdalepress.com
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JULIO REY ROSAS, 5, poses for the camera while his sister Wendy Rosas, 9, takes a break on June 29.
velyn Bynun doled out plastic-wrapped lunches with a smile, as children swarmed her metal food cart on Van Cortlandt Park pool’s opening day. For the past decade, Ms. Bynun has served free breakfasts and lunches near the volleyball court to those 18 or younger. On days like June 28, when temperatures peaked just above 90 degrees and hundreds flock to the pool, Ms. Bynun said she ends the day without leftovers. The floundering economy has helped keep the line behind her food cart long most days, she said. It doesn’t help that the Van Cortlandt Park site is one of the few summer meals locations that operates on week-
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ends, which Ms. Bynun said attracted children from Yonkers and beyond. “Everybody wants to eat the food. I think there shouldn’t be an age limit because the adults want to eat too,” she said. “Some need it, you see, he was arguing with me about his age.” The Department of Education’s Office of SchoolFood has offered summer meals in city parks, schools and beaches for more than 30 years to ensure that students who rely on free or reduced-priced lunches during the academic year don’t have to skip meals in the summer. According to the DOE, 7,173,000 meals were served last summer, up from 6,938,000 in 2010 and 7,008,000 in 2009. The Van Cortlandt Park pool was the first local summer meals station to open, but it is
just one of five local sites. The breakfast menu includes pancakes, scrambled eggs, bagels and yogurt. Lunch selections include pasta, barbecue chicken, chicken tenders salad and cold vegetable stew. Lucy Colon, a Marble Hill mother who visits the pool every day in the summer, said meals like the salad, orange, Sun Chips and chocolate milk on offer June 28, were convenient for parents. “It’s the best thing they ever did for the kids. It just makes it easy for parents,” Ms. Colon said. Youngsters clad in towels and bathing suits tended to be less enthusiastic about the food. Some compared it to school lunches. However, Ms. Bynun said they continue to come to eat. (Continued on page B2)
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