trouble, with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool

i'm sure all you locals have heard the sad sad plans to turn mccarren park pool back into a *shudder at the thought* functioning swimming pool. the worst part about it is that as far as i can tell no one is doing anything to save our beloved broken down, graffitied, water-free oasis.

i went to the mccarren pool site and they have a link to something called poolaid. "poolaid!," i thought, "thank goodness someone has already created a group to save our pool so that i don't have to do any hard work myself!" but DO NOT BE FOOLED! this poolaid actually wants to have a real pool. (and shame on you mccarren pool website for publishing their link. don't you want to save the concerts and movies which you promote?)

pool aid is a "group of people who live in Greenpoint and Williamsburg and think that paying $52 for a concert in a public park is ridiculous." oh ... well then we are in agreement, no? i would never pay $52 to see devo in a public park. that is why i attend the free concerts EVERY sunday! is that not enough? a free concert every freaking sunday? and there are plenty of cheaper shows. for instance, the black keys show (which i have tickets for!) is only $29.50. and wouldn't you rather see the black keys anyway?

and what about the absolutely free movies that they show every tuesday night. i love that i live in a neighborhood where i can come home from work (because i work for a living; we are not all trust fund kids) and go see Desperately Seeking Susan outside on a warm summer night, while my friends and i picnic in a beautiful urban wasteland of crumbling concrete, sitting on cushions generously handed out by scion (thank you scion! i am saving my cushion for when they show Velvet Goldmine!).

then poolaid goes on to say that they "want to see everyone in the neighborhood attending events at the pool, not just hipsters." you know what? i am sick of this kind of anti-hipsterism. i hate manorexics in skinny jeans and oversized steve urkele glasses as much as the next person. but we live here too, damnit! we are just as much a part of the community as anyone else. i'm paying an arm and a leg to live here and i deserve some rights! but i do believe in sharing. i'm all for having a more well-rounded calendar of events. maybe have some children's events. maybe one day a week could be a polish themed event. there's no limit to what could be done. it's a gigantic empty pool for christ's sake! but alas, the poolaid people actually want to swim in the swimming pool. why i've never heard anything so ludicrous.

what to do? what to do? apparently, there was a petition at the parks and recreation website. sadly the time period for that is over. but you can still send an e-mail to Adrian Benepe, CommissionerDepartment of Parks & Recreation.

also, jelly nyc has created a pettition to create a concert space at the proposed bushwick inlet park. don't worry, this park would not actually be in bushwick. the proposed plans have the site spanning from north 9th to quay st. which would be awesome, but considering how fascist they are at the adjacent east river park, i'm not holding my breathe for the creation of a concert space. i'm sure they would have all sorts of strange overbearing rules, like no synth pop after 6:37 pm, and crowd surfing only between the hours of 2:15 and 3:45.

but i ask you, my beloved blog readers, please send e-mails and sign petitions. even though it may be fruitless. i don't think we should lose our abandoned pool without a fight.