Residents rally to save Tony Dapolito Rec Center

Nearly 100 residents and community activists today cheered, protested and pleaded to renovate the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center, which the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation hopes to demolish while building new one nearby.

Brandishing signs saying “Save the Dapolito Rec Center” and “Make These Repairs” and chanting “No more demo,” they made their case to “save” the now closed Tony Dapolito Recreation Center, at Clarkson and Varick Street.

“They call the demolition plan revitalization. We call it erasure,” said Mar Fitzgerald, Democratic district leader for the 66th Assembly District, including Greenwich Village, East Village and part of Chelsea. “There are over $100 million on the table. This building is a powerhouse. Its bones are strong. Its walls are filled with our history. And its purpose is still alive. Let’s save this building for us and for generations to come.”

Protestors outside the building with text on the door saying “temporary stabilization has been provided for public safety,” argued for preservation. The Adams administration says it has a plan to build new facilities that would better serve the community.

“This fight isn’t about abstract ideas. We’re not just here for a rally,” said Sommer Oma, who founded the Coalition to Save the Public Recreation Center Downtown. “We’re ready to start and get engaged, so we’re ready on day one of the next mayor’s administration to finally start repairing this building.”

The Tony Dapolito Recreation Center in Greenwich Village closed for repairs after the city found “structural issues” during construction in 2021 under Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The outdoor pool adjacent to the facility had already closed in 2019 for similar reasons, also under Mayor de Blasio. Initial plans called for renovation and reopening and money was allocated, but renovations instead stalled.

“This is a rare case where the community isn’t asking for pie-in-the-sky promises,” Oma added. “We’re asking the city to follow through on already funded, long-promised repairs for the rec center.”

The Tony Dapolito Recreation Center.Photo by Claude Solnik

The Department of Parks and Recreation instead last year unveiled a recreation “plan for the Clarkson Street corridor” that it said was “shaped by feedback from the community about the need for recreation facilities and programming. “

Mayor Adams proposed $164 million to “transform” the West Village near Clarkson Street into a “new recreation, cultural, and fitness hub,” including 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor recreation.

“This $164-million investment will revitalize a community that has consistently contributed to the rich history of our city,” Mayor Adams said.

Protestors, however, see an upcoming election as potentially leading to a new lease on life for the center, saving the past and planning for the future.

“With a new mayor coming in, there’s real opportunity for course correction,” Oma added. “Will the next administration commit to changing course?”

Candidate stands

At a recent town hall, Zohran Mamdani said, “The important thing to do here is not just to fulfill the promises you have made, but also to do your best to fulfill the promises that have been made prior to you.”

He said he would work “with the City Council to ensure that we actually allocate the money that was promised and follow through on this commitment.”

Andrew Cuomo’s campaign didn’t respond to questions regarding the center, while Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa said he supports “the halt of the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center demolition.”

Photo by Claude Solnik

The administration instead has a plan to build a new, fully accessible outdoor pool and pool house on the site and a new indoor recreation center across the street.

Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez Rosa has called this “a transformational milestone for this neighborhood and for Manhattan as a whole.”

“From a brand-new indoor pool and basketball gym to honoring the legacy of Keith Haring’s mural,” she has said, “we’re celebrating history as we plan for the future with expanded amenities that support community wellness.”

Manhattan Community Board 2, though, issued a resolution in September 2024 opposing demolition and noting that landmark laws prohibit “demolition by neglect.”

“We’ve been told it would cost money and be difficult,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, a non-profit focusing on preserving Greenwich Village, East Village and NoHo history. “Demolishing a buildilng and building a new building cost money and is difficult.”

Berman said, “Some of our most beloved institutions are in old buildings that needed to be repaired and modernized for new uses,” including the Public Theater, in a former library, and the Westbeth Arts Center in a former Bell Telephone building.

“It’s troubling and irresponsible for the City to say we’re going to demolish this landmarked building, because we don’t want to deal with it anymore,” Berman said, noting it’s difficult to get approval to tear down landmarks. “They get to do that and nobody else gets to do that.”

The facility opened to the public as a bathhouse on May 6, 1908, but was repurposed and repeatedly renovated.

The parks department said it became “a year-round hub for many in and around the neighborhood.”

Photo by Claude Solnik

In addition to providing fitness facilities, it hosted youth and adult athletic leagues, after-school programs, a summer day camp, fitness classes and many other activities.

The center also includes an 18-foot-long Keith Haring mural, dedicated in August of 1987, that both parks and community advocates want preserved.

“It doesn’t need to be either or,” Berman said. “ Things can go in the renovated Tony Dapolito Center and in a new building across the street.”

The building is named for Anthony V. Dapolito, who lived from 1920-2003 and was a longtime Community Board 2 chair often known as the “Mayor of Greenwich Village.”

Dapolito and his family also ran the Vesuvio Bakery on Prince Street, itself a cultural landmark.

He was elected 12 times as Community Board 2 chair and served as chairperson of its Parks Committee, pushing for renovation of several neighborhood parks,

Dapolito died on July 2, 2003, a day before his 83rd birthday, and was soon honored with the naming of this recreation center.

The Department of Parks and Recreation, in writing, indicated “in consideration of Mr. Dapolito’s great impact on this neighborhood, and especially its children and parks,” the center in 2004 was renamed for him.

“This isn’t just a building,” Francisco Gonzalez, a community leader, said at the rally. “It’s a walking, talking community for everybody in the five boroughs.”

Photo by Claude Solnik