Natatorium / Swimming Pool & World Ice Rink

Flushing Meadows Corona Park / Queens NY / Queens Buzz. In the winter of 2008 the city opened an Olympic sized swimming pool at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Natatorium. This winter the city opened the World Ice Rink one floor below the swimming pool. Both are open to the public and it costs $5 to use either facility, except that on weekends skating costs $8 per person.

Swimming & Ice Skating In Queens – Facility Use Requirements

Both the ice rink and the swimming pool are open year round, so you can swim in the winter and ice skate in the summer. Skaters can rent skates for $5, but be advised the lockers, as of this posting, have not yet been installed. Swimmers must bring their own padlock and all swimmers must bring and wear a swimming cap.

Al Oerter Recreation Facility - Flushing

The Al Oerter Recreation Facility is just a block south of Avery Avenue at 131st Street. This facility includes a basketball court, cardio machines, weights, two racquet ball courts and a computer lab that is open from Monday through Friday.

Flushing Swimming Pool & World Ice Skating Arena In Queens

The facilities are located at Avery Avenue and 131st Street inside the Flushing Meadows Corona Park. For public transit users, the best way to get there is to take the # 7 subway to the Citi Field [formerly Shea Stadium] stop. Cross the wooden bridge going into the park and hang a left. It’s about a 5 to 10 minute walk once you’ve crossed the bridge and swung left. Just follow the winding paths to the facility which you can identify by the two high poles which rise above it.

By car you can reach the park from the Grand Central Parkway [GCP] using the Northern Blvd exit and then following signs for the park, which is in a southerly direction [see map]. Or from the Long Island Expressway, exit at 22 from the east and 21 from the west for the GCP going west and take exit 9A. Look for the signs to park facilities.

Flushing Natatorium & World Ice Rink - Hours Of Operation

The Flushing Natatorium [Swimming Facility] is open Monday through Friday from 6 am to 10 pm, Saturday from 9 am to 10 pm and Sunday from 9 am to 8 pm.

The World Ice Arena is open Monday through Thursday 9 am - 5.15 pm, Friday 9 am - 9.50 pm with a one hour hiatus between 6 pm and 7 pm, Saturday 12 noon - 9.50 pm with a three hour hiatus from 5 pm to 8 pm, and Sunday from 12 noon to 4.45 pm.

Queens Olympic Swimming Pool & Ice Rink - History & Architecture

The pool was conceived during the Guiliani administration in the late nineties and expanded upon by the Bloomberg administration in the early part of the 21st century. The project cost the public $66 million and apparently is the largest public project in a city park to date. It marks the first new swimming pool built in the city in four decades.

Architecturally the design was intended to be keeping within the style of the rest of the park, which began with the Unisphere, Queens Theatre In The Park and the Queens Museum Of Art, all of which were built for the 1964 – 1965 world’s fair. The pool is Olympic sized and the ice skating arena includes bleacher seating for a few hundred.

Flushing Swimming Pool & World Ice Rink Queens - Related Links

Click here for a map showing the location of the Queens Olympic Swimming Pool, World Ice Rink & Al Oertes Recreation Facility in Flushing Queens NY. Click this link to obtain the contact info and website url for the NY City Parks Dept which manages the park facilities in Flushing Queens NY.

Click this link to go to the Flushing & Corona Neighborhood News.