I want to make clear that I'm giving the team itself 5 stars and not Baruch's facilities. I've been…read moreswimming with the Hydras since September and really enjoy it. If you are in the market for a Masters Swim Team, I highly suggest this one. The reason I picked it was because on the their website they said they didn't tolerate bullying of any kind. That sealed the deal. Great coaches, good group of people, and hard workouts. In terms of Baruch's pool. The actual dug in pool is good. The bathrooms leave a lot to be desired. For months, the drains in the showers didn't drain. They recently fixed that, but one of the benches by the lockers broke. Now there's only one and a chair or two stashed in the corner. Of all of the university pool locker rooms and pool locker rooms in general, this one has the most water on the floor. There is hardly any space, where it's not wet, to set your stuff down as you change. I think Baruch should consider floor mats or something. There has to be an alternative. Anyways, thumbs up for the team and thumbs down for Baruch.

Waterside Plaza Swim and Health Club is extraordinary facility. Needs to be open 7 days per week…read more6am- 10pm People work hard all week long and want access to this great facility 7 days a week 6 am to 10pm. This will add new and greater message to all area residents, particularly Waterside residents and I promise will increase membership and participation. Make this the greatest gym in New York There is room to make this facility the best by always being open and available. Lonnie Moss member

Nice place Clean…read more Lots of choices Swimming Pool is great Instructions are great. Nice staff

I REALLY WISH THIS PLACE WOULD OPEN FOR THE SUMMER I spent…read moremost of my teenage and Highschool years at this pool. Like the other public pools, there's 2 sessions They had free lunch for the first session, they let you eat the food on the deck! I was psyched. Only thing is no phones They were always lenient with experienced swimmers who wanted to linger on the deep side My brother and I became well known by the staff, so it was nice. I really miss this pool..and there's an indoor one! I figure if you made it this far you might as well show as much concern as I do

This pool is tiny...and dirty…read more There is usually a line to get in as they do monitor how many people are in the pool as they should. The pool is pretty small and it can get rowdy. It also isn't the cleanest pool, even though they make you shower before getting in. There is dirt and loose hair floating all around and it's pretty gross when it gets stuck to you. It's a hassle for me to get here, so unless I'm in the area and I'm about to melt, I'll probably pass.

Half the place continues to be under construction, including the pool, for going on 5 years.read more

The NYC Parks Department maintains a bunch of recreation centers in the city that are often refered…read moreto as City Gyms. These include Community Centers, Field Houses, and Nature Centers and offer services such as indoor pools, weight rooms, basketball courts, dance studios, boxing rings, art studios, game rooms and libraries. The Hansborough center is mostly a gym/sport destination (though they are opening a computer room soon). I go here to work out - lifting weights, cardio on the machines, walking on the track, and sometimes swimming. They have a few classes and offer some after school stuff for kids. I don't know how crowded this place gets on evenings and weekends since I come in the middle of the day, but it seems well-used and therefore well kept. Plus, it's in a historic part of Harlem. The best thing is the price. $50/year for most centers, $75/year for ones with a pool. If you get a membership to one, you can visit ANY rec center in the system in any of the 5 boroughs. If you're looking for a place to work out and have basic needs, then a City Gym is a good choice. This one in particular if you live uptown. They're not all this nice, and the one in Chelsea is rumored to be even nicer. I'd do some investigating to see if the center near you is a place you'd spend time. If you come here, don't be fooled by the 134th street address. What you want to do is walk east along 135th (if you're coming from the B/C or 2/3 stations) until you come to Lennox Terrace apartment complex (just east of Malcolm X Blvd./Lennox Ave.). You'll see a little street that runs behind the building along the parking lot. Turn in there. The Rec center is on the left on a tiny strip of street labeled, helpfully, 134th. Don't confuse it with the Joseph Kennedy rec center at the end of the street.

I had a lovely time here. The admissions fee for non…read moreresidents of Roosevelt island is $55. So some of the cheapest pool prices in the city. They have little snacks you can buy like chips and bars. The mural is beautiful although you can't realllyy see it since your basically standing on it. The oool is a nice size. Not huge but I didn't feel like I was too close to anyone while in The water. The lounge chairs are nice and there are umbrellas that you can open up for shade. The locker/bathroom situation could have been nicer for a swanky little pool but it wasn't horrible. I think I'm just skeeved out by bathroom in general and all the water. Wet floors. Hair on the floor. Someone left the shower running. Just silly gross little things that it would be nice if they checked and kept it a little tidier. I will say there were lots of kids at the pool. Earlier in the morning the younger the babies. Most of them weren't bugging out like this was hurricane harbor but I did have to curb my conversation as they swam up real close and didn't have much concept of personal space. Not horrible though. It could get annoying but they didn't bother me much. I'm pretty patient. Some of my friends were not as thrilled with it. Overall a nice pool and if you don't mind a few kids being around I'd def recommend.

In my opinion, this place is a disgusting nightmare. Spouse convinced me to come here from…read moreManhattan for the day. This is the worst day of the summer thus far. The place has no food, no service, is overrun with loud crying kids, chairs are uncomfortable, people are packed together, can't move chairs or umbrellas...... I could go on and on. If you have money and standards - stay away. Zero chance I would ever return.

Love our lessons for our 2 year old. The classes are small -- at most 4 kids, each with a…read morecaregiver, but most weeks we have been just 2 or 3 pairs -- so we get a lot of attention and individualized guidance. This allows for a calm, warm environment. Kendall has been a wonderful teacher. Due to her getting injured, we've had a few substitutes. They've all been wonderful, and each has emphasized different skills and brought a fresh approach with my child. We are so grateful for this place. We also like all of the staff, who are warm and friendly. My 2 year old knows them all and looks forward to seeing them each week. They have now updated their policy to allow for one make-up lesson per month. This is really great -- especially during cold and flu season. I took one star off because the changing room is a bit awkward and the floors could be kept cleaner. It's a co-ed locker area, with some private shower stalls and private changing rooms, but the showers and changing rooms are at opposite ends of the locker area. The built in locks on many of the lockers don't work or are stuck on lock position. It's all good, definitely not a reason not to bring your kid here, and we make it work. (By contrast, we had taken our older child to the JCC at this age: it was crowded, loud, followed a script that couldn't accommodate different kids' needs. We kept trying with the JC summer camp for 2 years, and he still can't swim! It turned him off swimming and only now, at age 8, is he starting to warm up to the idea of learning to swim -- mainly because his younger brother is loving it.)

I love Imagine - the teachers, the administrators, and the facility are all great! My boys (3-year…read moreold & almost 2-year old) have taken several classes at this location and it has been a wonderful experience. Sarah is a really great teacher and she gave me some helpful tips to get my youngest more comfortable in the water. Everyone is very helpful and patient - and I feel like they meet each kid where they're at, based on their swimming level. If you're thinking of giving Imagine Swimming a try, please take any negative reviews with a grain of salt. I've noticed that there are some really high-strung parents at this location, and I honestly think the staff here does a fantastic job, despite this as an obstacle.

Recently reopened and much improved. It is wonderful to be able to have a nearby indoor pool and…read moreupdated locker room available to use.

It's an ok affordable pool. $5 per person per visit - it is hard to beat that. Unlike NYC Parks…read morerecreation centers, this one doesn't require a membership, which is a plus - if you are a member elsewhere but would like to go for a swim with a friend who's visiting, for example. Take the Roosevelt Island tram, enjoy the views, and it's only a 1-minute walk to the pool. The locker rooms, indeed, have seen better times. It looks a bit dark and not very clean, there are ponds of water you have to cross on your way to to the pool or to the changing area - yikes. The shower booths are spacious though. The pool itself is great, has natural light, and you can borrow kickboards, pull buoys, and even fins there - so it is good enough to forgive the imperfect locker room experience.

***REVIEW FOR POOL ONLY***…read more Oops, I almost gave this aquatic facility three stars, then realized that it's not the pool's fault that I do not live way up in the Bronx. Also not the pool's fault that I didn't consult the printed schedule (available AT the rec center)...for the adult lap swim times seem to change at will every couple of weeks. Having last confirmed via telephone (718-402-5155) that there was swimming from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, I took a trip there this past Tuesday. From my work in Soho, I boarded the 6, switched to the 5, and took it to 149-3rd Ave. Walked East on 149th (with the big McDonald's to my left across the street) and progressed past a whole bunch of discount clothing stores, discount DVD stalls, and Latin American bodegas...then past a creepy deserted lot with someone's apparent haunted house project (a howling wolf with a bloody mouth next to a casket) behind a chain linked fence. Took a right onto St. Ann's, which borders a magnificently wild looking park whose mysterious hills prematurely closed out the last traces of the sun. Almost as was my experience visiting St. Johns pool in Brooklyn, I saw the basketball courts first, and here, too was an ice cream truck with its warbling tune making the rounds about uninterested b-ballers on the crisp fall night. Except this area was a lot nicer on account of the pastoral park. I walked a few more blocks past other facilities belonging to the Parks system, and kind of had to go up an alley-like ramp to the recreation center. The entrance was in the back with a wide sweep of concrete in front of it; oddly inaccesible to cars (but this is a good thing). The locker room had an extremely high ceilings. There was a pretty clean changing area with plenty of space. The lockers were the medium-tall ones with hooks intact, and didn't have filth on the bottoms. At one point, a lone woman walked in and started saying, "What are you looking at?" Involuntarily, I flinched, and she let out a belly laugh saying she had been yelling at her supervisor right outside the door. She then continued complaining about her day while I modestly got into my suit. The bathrooms were in the next area down a long hall, and the showers in the area even farther down the same hall. Chilly. The floors of the toilet stalls were fillllthy; that brownish, damp, sticky filth that makes your whole body itch on contact. It was a relief to go to the showers, but I did not linger because the curtains looked too much like body bags or operating scrubs. I went into the one stall with a perpetually running spigot and a curtain that had been torn down. It took a while to saturate my suit. Then, the doors to the pool were locked, and I knew something was wrong because I saw a bunch of teenagers and no lanes. I knocked desperately until a disturbingly overdeveloped teen came and let me in. The lifeguard told me that Tuesday was currently Family Swim. "Can I still swim here?" I asked. "No, it's gotta be a family," he said. I looked around, and saw no families...and the guard must have felt for me because he whispered, "But I'll let you go today. You came a long way, right?" he chuckled. Damn right. The pool was surrounded by bleachers. It was clean, deep (8 ft.), and blue. Such a shame that there were no lanes and everyone was swimming across it sideways, but there was a semblance of order in the swimmers' behavior that I really appreciated. There were girls training with the lifeguard and dudes having breatholding contests in the quiet corners of the tank. Since this was my first swim since my 10K race, the environment gave me license to take it easy while still getting the blood flowing. There's something about the Bronx that's really LOCAL. Being an obvious transplant to any part of this metropolis, I always feel sorely out of place but delighted to be there. The greatest discomfort isn't in catcalls, but in silent stares and surprised glances. I won't say it's racial or economical. It's just a feeling why I know I'm a foreigner on this turf and how they know I am as well. But I was welcomed at the pool, and at a pizza place on a corner of 149th where I chased the rising bile for the Yankees on TV with bites of a tangy square of Grandma pizza. The train home was long, but hey, it was direct on the 2 line. If I lived here, this would be my spot. I'd just have to call the VERY DAY I was going to swim laps just to make sure it was a lap day.

I live near Pelham bay in New York, so I only go there for the indoor swimming pool and the gym. I…read moremostly go for the swimming pool mainly, only used the gym once. The pool is not as good, but as a public pool, it's not bad at all. The pool is warm, nice, and the water is not the cleanest I would say bit it's alright. Just a tip: always check the schedule before going. Because they have different programs for different age groups, so, you might get disappointed if you go on a wrong day. The gym is fine. Its not that big but it had room for me to work out comfortably without any problem of space. They should upgrade their exercise machines though.