Public Employee Press

Broken HVAC systems plague city pools

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Fog is cloaking indoor swimming pools at a dozen Parks and Recreation centers around the city. The problem is caused by faulty ventilation systems that fail to correct high humidity and condensation or regulate inside air temperatures that dipped as low as a bone-chilling 58 degrees.

"There needs to be money allocated in the city budget to make the necessary repairs to the Parks Dept.'s lingering HVAC problems," said Peter Stein, president of Lifeguard Supervisors Local 508, who testified before the City Council Finance Committee in March. "The present condition in these pools results in inadequate heating and dehumidifying and violates health codes and building regulations."

"Parks' answer to the problem seems to be to wait until the season changes, so the problems are never addressed or corrected, just kicked down the road," said Franklyn Paige, president of City Lifeguards Local 461.

Fix or replace

"The union involved the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene and Citywide Office of Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) for indoor air quality testing," said Safety and Health Dept. Director Guille Mejia.

COSH reported the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the East 54th St. rec center has not worked for years. COSH further found the system at St. John's pool in Brooklyn has been out of order for more than seven years. A fan in the window has been Parks' remedy; in the winter it's covered with plastic to retain the heat - there is no ventilation. At Brooklyn's Metropolitan pool that was last renovated in 1978, the HVAC is corroded. Its air supply system has not worked since 1990.

COSH recommended the Parks Dept. "repair or replace the ventilation/air conditioning systems."

Public pools like Asser Levy and Dapolito Rec Center were built a century ago. The duct work at Dapolito, formerly the Carmine Gym in Greenwich Village, is striped with rust. Parks unsuccessfully taped plastic sheeting over the windows to keep cold air out. The heavy plastic's ripped remnants flail in the wind.

"Parks management has allowed poor conditions to exist and these are real problems for our members and the public," said Stein.

Stein asked the Finance Committee for an infusion of funds to repair or replace the HVAC systems at the city's indoor public pools and to generally renovate these facilities.

DC 37 Locals 508 and 461 have long exposed the Parks' pool problem: HVAC systems at many public indoor pools fail to regulate temperatures or humidity - a contributing factor to mold - or circulate clean air.

At one facility, the Brownsville Rec Center in Brooklyn, DC 37's investigation in 2012 exposed serious environmental hazards. The union discovered the BRC's rooftop HVAC system had been stolen years earlier, possibly for its scrap metal. DC 37's exposé in PEP led to labor management meetings that resulted in the Parks Dept. earmarking $1.49 million for capital improvements, including a new HVAC system in 2013. Stein said, "The union's work was a victory for our members and the community."

DC 37 is pressing City Hall and the Parks Dept. to do the same for its other indoor pools. Stein said, "The city needs to budget monies, develop a set of plans and a real timeline to fix or replace dilapidated HVAC systems at indoor pools and correct the health hazards."