Nestled between the high-rise brick buildings of the Bushwick Houses is a chlorine oasis: Bushwick’s own public pool, aptly named Bushwick Pool. I was unaware of a pool in the area until my roommate, who works for the Parks Department, informed me of one’s existence. So, on Tuesday, I headed over to the projects on Bushwick and Flushing to go check it out.

The pool sits behind a playground and a small brick building on Flushing Avenue and Humboldt St. According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation website, the site was last renovated in 2006. Since 1997, more than one million dollars has been budgeted towards the 1.29 acre park’s upkeep and renovation.

All one needs for admittance is a bathing suit and a lock. I had neither, but a kind woman in a green Parks Department uniform agreed to take me in as far as the front office so I could take a look at it (I couldn’t go any further though, they take these rules very seriously, I guess). She made sure to impress upon me the importance of bringing a “very sturdy lock” for my belongings, half-chuckling while she said it.

The layout of the pool is pretty basic — the grounds feature two rectangular pools: a main pool and one for infants. The main pool isn’t very large, but it seemed to accommodate the screaming and splashing swimmers just fine, of whom there were about thirty.

The drawback of the site is obvious — it’s in the projects. Within a minute of entering Bushwick Houses I had almost ridden over a dead rat on my bike and nearly stepped on a condom (street objects not uncommon anywhere in Bushwick, admittedly). However, the pool and adjacent playground, where the proper street-entrance to the pool is, appeared to be in order and are inspected a few times a year. The need to lock up your possessions is another drawback. Nevertheless, I plan on escaping my Bushwick heat-box to swim one of these days, albeit with zero personal belongings of any value. I’ve also heard of accounts of (mainly verbal) hostility towards pale boys like me in and around the Houses, mostly at night though. I didn’t run into any trouble going through the grounds on Tuesday. My powder-white body will blind anyone who attempts to mess with me, or just draw some laughs, as it does even at my predominantly white home town pool.

Unfortunately, the Parks Department official wasn’t nice enough to allow me to take pictures of the facility without permission from the city. I called the NYC press office and they informed me that I had to fill out two online forms, so I hung up and went around back and took a picture of the pool from behind a black gate. I hope it entices some readers to take advantage of their NYC tax dollars-at-work and cool down at the Bushwick Houses; it beats a busted fire hydrant any day.

Bushwick Pool is open from 11 am to 3pm and 4pm to 7pm, seven days a week.