Who was Sol Goldman, anyway? An introduction to Red Hook’s Rec Center, by Nathan Weiser

Red Hook’s Recreation Center and enormous outdoor pool, open during the summer through Labor Day, is named after Sol Goldman, who was a real estate mogul in New York City.

Born in Brooklyn in 1917, Goldman dropped out of Brooklyn College to run his father’s grocery store in 1935, and later on started buying foreclosed properties at low prices in the 1950s. He would add the Chrysler Building in 1960.

Despite setbacks in the 1970s, Goldman appeared in the first Forbes 400 list of richest Americans in 1982, with a net worth estimated at $200 million. When he died in 1987, that number had grown to $1 billion.

According to Crystal Howard from the Parks Department, during the 1991 fiscal crisis in New York City, the Goldman family donated $2 million to help keep the outdoor pools open during the summer. The Red Hook Pool and Recreation Center was named for Sol Goldman shortly after.

The Sol Goldman Red Hook Recreation Center, located at 155 Bay Street right across from the baseball and soccer field, was built in 1939 and originally operated as a bathhouse.

The Rec Center, as well as the rest of Red Hook, was impacted and damaged by Hurricane Sandy in late 2012, and it didn’t open again nearly two months after the hurricane hit the neighborhood. The surge filled the center’s basement with water, which led to the two months of repairs.

This summer, renovations took place to modernize the doors to the building and add new flooring in the weight room.

The Rec Center has many activities for people of all ages during the year to utilize. There is a basketball court, a weight room, pool table, cardio room, an after-school room, a computer resource center, and other rooms for the neighborhood to use and enjoy.

For adults ages 25-61, the Rec Center costs $150 for a one-year membership and $75 for a six-month membership. The cost of a yearly membership for people with disabilities, seniors 62 and over, veterans and young adults 18-24 is $25. All youth from 1-17 can use the Rec Center for free with ID.

The computer resource center has a special schedule for classes and activities. Examples include intro to audio production, adult/senior open access, intro to email, intro to digital photography for teens, digital media club for teens, intro to MS Word for adults and seniors, and homework help for children.

Membership activities available during this season are: weight loss for seniors, cardio and strength training, billiards, soccer for teens, learn to play basketball, self-defense for adults and teens, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and chess classes for adults and teens.

These classes are available for toddlers up through seniors. The earliest class begins at 6 AM and the last class ends at 8 PM.

From Monday-Friday, the building opens at 6:00 a.m. and closes at 8:00 p.m. On Saturdays, the Rec Center opens at 8:00 a.m. and closes at 4:00 p.m.