McCarren Park Pool | Brooklyn’s Most Haunted Pool

Posted: 11.25.2024 | Updated: 11.25.2024

In the bright light of a summer day, nothing seems more pleasant than a dip in the cooling waters of your community swimming hole. Greenpoint’s communal McCarren Park Pool has long been one such cool zone. Yet beneath the sparkling blue water of this glittering pool’s surface, sinister secrets lurk.

McCarren’s Park Pool is an intriguing location to examine. Many who float upon the water’s surface would never know that this designated historic landmark contains a secret network of tunnels below it. Ringing around the perimeter of the pool, these tunnels connect the old boiler room beneath the entryway arches all the way to the filtration plant.

While the pool spent many years abandoned and derelict, the site remained frequented by urban spelunkers who made their mark in graffiti, the bravest of which descended into the pool tunnels. Today, the refurbished pool is patronized by those seeking a refreshing summer dunk — but their swim does not always go undisturbed.

Who Haunts McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn?

Folklore has it that the spirit of a drowned girl haunts this historic pool. During the night, when the water is less busy, she makes her presence known. Mysteriously, no records of a female child drowning have ever been uncovered in connection with McCarren Park Pool, yet reports indicate a history of other activity. 

Keep reading to learn the strange and fascinating history behind this watery site. Are you bold enough to take the plunge and journey into the world of the unknown in person? Book a Haunted Walking Tour of NYC with NYC Ghosts.

From The Great Depression To Concert Venue

Before the magnificent McCarren Pool sat on these grounds, the land lay encircled by industrial lumber and scrap metal yards. Conditions were hard for the neighboring working-class population, especially when the pool opened.

In the mid-1930s, this neighborhood had one of the highest unemployment rates in the entire city. The summer of 1936 was marked by intense weather, with temperatures breaking local heat records. McCarren Park Pool would be one of many pools opened that summer by the Parks Department. 

The pool project, funded by the Federal Works Progress Administration as part of the New Deal, aimed to offer safer recreation to working-class residents and help relieve poor health conditions.

The McCarren pool was one of the largest of these projects, but size was not its only hallmark. Planned by two designers, landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke, and Aymar Embury II, the site also boasted incredible design features. 

A stark contrast to the polluted waterways that the population had traditionally frequented, the colossal McCarren Park Pool sported an immense bathhouse and archway in Art Modern style. An advanced filtration system was installed along with heating and underwater lights. The massive pool could hold up to 6,800 swimmers. 

For years, the pool remained a center for recreation and delight for the community, but by 1984, it had deteriorated greatly. After closing, it became a sight of vandalism, graffiti, and disrepair, falling into a state of near dereliction. Fortunately, this decrepit state would not last for long.

The pool was revived in 2005 as a performance space and eventual music venue featuring acts from Sonic Youth to Brooklyn’s own Beastie Boys. By 2008, NYC Parks had initiated a restoration of the pool and surrounding features, including the recreation center, historic bathhouse, and entryway arch. 

The Drowned Child and Her Watery Grave

In 2012, the pool reopened, becoming, once again, a spot for community enjoyment. Still, it holds a dark, mysterious past within its magnificent walls. Brooklyn’s McCarren Park Pool is rumored to be haunted by a drowned child. According to local legend, a little girl drowned in the pool many years ago. As a consequence, her spirit continues to haunt the pool. 

Those who have sighted this spirit claim to see her swimming in the pool during nighttime hours. Others have witnessed the cries of a small child radiating from the pool. 

A few rare souls have spotted the girl herself. One observer reported walking by the pool in the late hours of the evening when they heard the cries of a little girl. Following the sound, they discovered a small blonde-haired girl swimming in the pool. She disappeared as they neared her, but her cries lingered, echoing throughout the place. 

Another onlooker once glimpsed this ghostly girl perched on the edge of the pool, sitting and staring into the glassy water. When approached, she vanished. 

While no documented evidence of a little girl drowning in this pool has ever been unearthed, many still possess theories as to why this child may haunt the pool. Some speculate the ghost may be that of a child who never had the chance to experience the pool while alive. Perhaps she instead drowned in a nearby waterway or was injured while playing in the treacherous scrap yards that existed before the pool’s construction. Either way, she seems particularly drawn to this location.

The Dark Underbelly of McCarren Park Pool

Although there exist no recordings of a girl drowning at this pool, there has been an instance of a teen boy drowning there in 1977. A news article states the 14-year-old boy from Brooklyn climbed the fence to get into the park with friends during the wee hours of the morning and drowned.

Interestingly, there was another incident involving a young boy nearly drowning at this location recently. In 2022, a 5-year-old boy almost succumbed to the water despite nearby lifeguards at the pool. Luckily, a good samaritan rescued him, and CPR was administered. 

Are these simply accidents, or might something more sinister be at play in this community pool? 

Paranormal researchers attending the site have recorded strange events. Investigations by Paranormal NYC have recorded EMF readings denoting activity in the area around the pool. Certain spots showed significant drops in temperature, and orbs were captured when photographs were taken.

During the years after the pool’s closure, many unseemly events played out at the pool after dark. The pool may have been fenced off during its vacancy, but this didn’t stop determined trespassers. 

Teens would often sneak in late at night to party and drink. Others used the space to engage in illicit drug use. Needles were found, and overdoses occurred, as are likely to happen in abandoned spaces. 

As recent as 2008, a body was discovered near the pool. Parks workers had reported a foul smell originating from a shed at the pool for many months. When they finally went to the shed to retrieve some equipment, a decomposing body was found.

Reports indicate that the person inside was likely homeless, but other sources report the death as suspicious. Could any of these lost individuals be to blame for the pool’s ghostly occurrences?

Haunted NYC

This historic site has seen many changes over the decades. From the McCarren Park Pool concerts of the 2000s to its rekindled life as a community focal point, this pool remains one with a historic legacy. Are the waters safe for swimmers today? That is up to you to decide. If you’re too nervous to take a dip in this particular pool, you can always stay in one of the nearby McCarren Park Pool hotels and splash in their saltwater pool instead.

Are you itching for more spooky stories featuring NYC locales? Check out our blog. Are you prepared to pay a visit to some of our city’s scarier sites and attend one of our chilling New York City Ghost Tours? Book a tour with NYC Ghosts.

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Sources:

https://www.untappedcities.com/the-top-10-secrets-of-nycs-mccarren-park

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https://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/haunted-places-in-new-york-city

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