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When former Parks Commissioner Robert Moses built 11 elaborate swimming pools in the 1930s, he hoped to give inner city residents a chance to swim near their neighborhoods.
"Fifty years ago, there really was no such thing as escaping to the Hamptons," said current Parks and Recreation Commissioner Henry J. Stern. "Most people didn't have cars."
Eight of the pools Moses built under the federal Works Progress Administration have been restored, and all will open tomorrow, along with 23 other city pools. The enormous WPA pools are still a treasure for those who simply want to escape without leaving the city, said Stern.
"Now that they've been fixed up, a lot of people are returning," Stern said this week. Funded under New...