"We are the Pool"

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Posted in NYC | music | venues | video on March 1, 2007

"Poolaid, a community group dedicated to keeping McCarren Pool open and accessible to everyone, is proud to announce the launch of our new video, "We are the Pool." Starring members of Brooklyn-based indy bands Nada Surf, Maplewood, The Loser's Lounge, Career Club, Breakup Breakdown, The Redcoats are Coming, Naked Highway, and The Giraffes, the video is a loving spoof of the "We are the World" video made in 1984 for USA for Africa."

Official "Pool Parties" trailer, and more info on "We are the Pool" & "Pool Aid" below...

We are the Pool

The video is intended to draw attention to the situation with McCarren Pool here in Williamsburg. Poolaid wants to encourage our community to learn more about the pool and to let the Parks Department and our elected officials know what they want done with the pool. We want the pool to be for the people!

McCarren Pool, situated on the Williamsburg/Greenpoint border in McCarren Park, was built in 1936 as a WPA project. After being shut down in the late 1980s, the pool fell into major disrepair.

In 2005 the pool was reopened as a performance venue. A local group, Jelly NYC, put on free shows every Sunday (see 2nd video above) that drew huge crowds. Noemie LaFrance's dance troupe performed the dance pieces Agora and Agora II. Unfortunately, the Parks Department chose to allow Live Nation, a spin-off and business partner of Clear Channel, to put on shows in the park as well. Live Nation then chose to charge $40 for their concerts.

We think a $40 cover charge for a show in a public park is wrong. Deeply wrong. Why is our pool being used to line the pockets of a corporation known for its predatory business practices? Furthermore, what does this mean for the future of the pool? Will some backdoor deal leave our community with a mini-Madison Square Garden and no pool? North Brooklyn is already lacking in park space and public facilities, and our pool should not be for sale.

And we want to go swimming.

Currently, the Parks Department is accepting permit applications for the summer of 2007. Many in the community hope that one day the pool will be a pool again, and Poolaid fully supports that vision. In the meantime, we encourage people to visit our website. www.poolaid.org, to learn more about the pool and the situation, and to use our easy e-activism section to send their opinions to local decision makers.

Poolaid supports the following:

• As long as the pool is a performance venue it should have diverse programming that serves our community.
• Events in the pool should be cheap or free.
• Money from ticketed events at the pool should go to the pool, not to the city general operating fund.
• The pool is for the people! We urge the Parks Department to set up a community committee and have regularly scheduled meetings for discussion of community concerns. We support Parks working with the Open Space Alliance to set up a community committee.
• There should be a clear timeline and a funding plan for turning the pool back into a pool again.
• Community-supported events should get priority to use the facility over national concert promoters. Keep Live Nation and other corporate interests from putting on for-profit events in our pool. No $50 tickets!

We are the Pool cast:

Lionel Richie: Julian Maile (Spray Paint Star)
Kenny Rogers: Aaron Lazar (Giraffes)
Billy Joel: James Sparber (Breakup Breakdown)
Tina Turner: Sy Boccari (Naked Highway)
Michael Jackson: Jay Honstetter (Black Tie Party)
Diana Ross: Allison Langerak (Breakup Breakdown)
Dionne Warwick: Lady T
Willie Nelson: Joe McGinty (Loser's Lounge)
Bruce Springsteen: Ira Eliot (Nada Surf)
Kenny Loggins: Hans Gutknecht (Career Club)
Steve Perry: Mark Rozzo (Maplewood)
Daryl Hall: Tommy Rockstar (Latex Generation)
Huey Lewis: Matthew Caws (Nada Surf)
Kim Carnes: Jessica Skiles (The Redcoats are Coming)
Poolaid Man: Michael Friedman-Schnapp (Poolaid)

Previously
* Speaking of nudity and pools....
* 2007 McCarren Pool free concert schedule, PoolAid & nudity

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Posted on March 1, 2007 12:14 AM

Comments (11)

whats the big deal? let live nation keep putting on shows. so long as the lineups are worth it i think its a great summer venue

Posted by mike | March 1, 2007 1:09 AM

What's the big deal? Do you even know what the WPA was? This pool was built with public funds (not city $) as a community space in a neighborhood that has few others. Of course it's a great summer venue--why else would Live Nation want it? But the people who actually live around here worked to reopen it so it could be used as a community space again, not to line the city's pockets, or any single promoter's. What qualifies as a good lineup to you is garbage to the people who actually live around the pool and have to hear it every weekend. The space should be free.

Posted by Dead Nation | March 1, 2007 8:34 AM

that video was stupid.

Posted by Anonymous | March 1, 2007 8:45 AM

Hmmm.. very evident that not one of the folks in that video has a stitch of talent

cant any of them sing on key?

Posted by Anonymous | March 1, 2007 9:14 AM

There are plenty of people that live around the pool that would prefer the occasional Deerhoof show to the non-stop sound of screaming kids. While assuming that W'burg is 80% old polish women and 20% gentrifying hipsters is probably a convenient myth at this point. I think they should just broaden the focus of who they book, similar to what they do in prospect park.

Posted by W'turd | March 1, 2007 9:21 AM

yikes, that music was horrid. here's hoping none of those bands are playing the pool parties this year.

Posted by Anonymous | March 1, 2007 9:49 AM

last year, i went to a reggae show and a mexican electronic collective show at prospect park. not my preferred kind of music, but i figured why not? the crowd at the reggae show was having such an amazing time and the vibe was so great, it was one of the best shows i went to in the year [and i usually hate reggae].

the jellynyc shows were awesome times and i loved many of the bands, but i would've gone to a friggin' polka show at mccarren pool, if they'd had it.

it's not like jellynyc [or even live nation--i didn't go to any of their shows] kept others from putting on shows. ANYONE can put on a show at the pool. so people who are complaining, need to shut up, get their shit together and put on their own shows.

and this whole "let's keep the hipsters out of the pool" bs... at least the "hipsters" got it together and put on free shows and movies. what was everyone else doing?

Posted by drea | March 2, 2007 11:38 AM

I'm curious, who wants to keep the hipsters out of the pool? Poolaid encourages diversity in programming, not keeping anyone out. There is a whole section on the website about how to put on your own show.

The shows in Prospect Park are a good example--they are diverse, and the money froom ticketed events go to the Prospect Park Conservancy, which programs the shows as well as basically running the park. THere aren't for-profit shows going on there.

Posted by pool lover | March 2, 2007 1:01 PM

it's cute but...it's like a commercial for hipster parents somehow. i dont get too much of a sense of what the "community" is--

Posted by trapped | March 3, 2007 5:09 PM

wow.

this video really makes me want to shut down the concerts. immediately.

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