Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T17:27:12.343Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Paidia meets Ludus: New York City Municipal Pools and the Infrastructure of Play

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2015

Naomi Adiv
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

From 1870 to the present, the city of New York has built and maintained municipal bathing places including river baths, indoor bathhouses, indoor pools, and outdoor pools, designed around competing motivations of hygiene, recreation, and play. In this paper, I consider what it means for different groups to play in public space using Caillois's (1961) division of ludus—competitive, rule-bound play, and paidia—exuberant, unstructured play. First, using historical examples, I show how these notions of play were expressed in two shifts in the construction of municipal swimming and bathing infrastructure in New York City. In 1870, the enclosure of formerly unstructured bathing spaces at the riverbanks, and the establishment of floating baths in the rivers was meant to structure both time and behavior in the water; in 1936, the construction of 11 enormous swimming pools under Parks Commissioner Robert Moses provided bathing spaces, with recreation at the center of their design program and social function. Second, I offer contemporary ethnographic data from two outdoor pools in Brooklyn to demonstrate how rules around acceptable play are differentially enforced inside of the same institution. Through these historical shifts and contemporary variations, I demonstrate how both the construction and everyday use of municipal bathing infrastructure has been the site of an ongoing tension between ludus and paidia, inflected with urban problematics of class and race.

Type
Special Section: Public and Private Provision of Urban Public Goods
Information
Social Science History , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , Fall 2015 , pp. 431 - 452
Copyright
Copyright © Social Science History Association, 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allin, A. (1902) Play. Boulder: University of Colorado.Google Scholar
Allsop, R. O. (1894) Public Baths and Wash-Houses. New York: Spon And Chamberlain.Google Scholar
An, P. G. (2005) “Helping the poor emerge from ‘urban barbarism to civic civilization’: Public bathhouses in America, 1890–1915.” Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 77: 133–41.Google Scholar
Barnard, K. (2011) “Meet the neighbors: Worship and washing up at 133 Allen Street.” The Tenement Museum Blog, Friday, July 22, http://tenement-museum.blogspot.com/2011/07/meet-neighbors-worship-and-washing-up.html (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Bier, L. (2011) Fighting the Current: The Rise of American Women's Swimming, 1870–1926. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co.Google Scholar
Boy Scouts of America (1944) Swimming. Merit Badge Series. New York: Boy Scouts of America.Google Scholar
Burns, S. (2011) The Central Park Five: The Untold Story behind One of New York City's Most Infamous Crimes. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Caillois, R. (1961 [1958]) Man, Play, and Games [Les jeux et les hommes], trans. Meyer Barash. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe.Google Scholar
Calder, R. (2012) “Teens attack lifeguards at McCarren Park Pool.” New York Post, June 30, http://nypost.com/2012/06/30/teens-attack-lifeguards-at-mccarren-park-pool/ (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Caro, R. (1975) The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Cavallo, D. (1981) Muscles and Morals: Organized Playgrounds and Urban Reform, 1880–1920. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Chronopoulos, T. (2013) “The politics of race and class and the changing spatial fortunes of the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn, New York, 1936–2010.” Space and Culture 16 (1): 104–22.Google Scholar
Coates, T-N. (2012) “The beef at McCarren Pool.” The Atlantic, July 5, http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/07/the-beef-at-mccarren-pool/259448/ (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Cranz, G. (1982) The Politics of Park Design: A History of Urban Parks in America. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curanaj, L. (2012) “McCarren Park Pool plagued by violence since reopening.” MyFoxNY, July 11, http://www.myfoxny.com/story/18952615/mccarren-park-pool-plagued-by-violence-since-reopening (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Currell, S. (2005) The March of Spare Time: The Problem and Promise of Leisure in the Great Depression. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dargan, A., and Zeitlin, S. (1990) City Play. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Dodge, M., and Kitchin, R. (2006) “Exposing the secret city: Urban exploration as ‘space hacking.’” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Chicago, March 10.Google Scholar
Dulles, F. R. (1940) America Learns to Play: A History of Popular Recreation, 1607–1940. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company.Google Scholar
Ehrenfeucht, R., and Loukaitou-Sideris, A. (2007) “Constructing the sidewalks: Municipal government and the production of public space in Los Angeles, California, 1880–1920.” Journal of Historical Geography 33 (1): 104–24.Google Scholar
Fisk, H. E. (1896) The Introduction of Public Rain Baths in America: A Historical Sketch. New York: Sanitarian Print.Google Scholar
Gagen, E. (2004) “Making America flesh: Physicality and nationhood in early twentieth-century physical education reform.” Cultural Geographies 11 (4): 417–42.Google Scholar
Garrett, B. L. (2011) “Assaying history: Creating temporal junctions through urban exploration.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 29 (6): 1048–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gendar, Alison, and Hutchinson, Bill (2012) “‘Caddyshack’ moment at McCarren Pool!” New York Daily News, July 9, http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012–07–09/news/32606418_1_city-pool-mccarren-park-pool-pool (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Gerhard, W. M. P. (1908) Modern Baths and Bath Houses. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Glassberg, D. (1979) “The design of reform: The public bath movement in America.” American Studies 20 (2): 5–21.Google ScholarPubMed
Gottehrer, B. (1968) Report to Mayor John V. Lindsay, Summer in Our City: New York City 1967 and 1968. New York: Urban Action Task Force.Google Scholar
Government of the City of New York (1915) The Government of the City of New York: A Collection of Addresses and Discussions presented at a series of eleven lecture-conferences held under the auspices of the Academy of Political Science in the City of New York with the co-operation of the Bureau of Municipal Research, the Institute of Arts and Sciences of Columbia University, and a citizens’ committee, April 7 to 30, 1915. Edited by the New York State Constitutional Convention Commission.Google Scholar
Gutman, M. (2007) “Equipping the public realm: Rethinking Robert Moses and recreation,” in Ballon, H. and Jackson, K. T. (eds.) Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York. New York: W. W. Norton and Company: 72–85, 135–157.Google Scholar
Gutman, M. (2008) “Race, place, and play: Robert Moses and the WPA swimming pools in New York City.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 67 (4): 532–61.Google Scholar
Hamilton, B., and Boniello, K. (2011) “Gansevoort Pool city's dirtiest; public pools much cleaner.” New York Post, July 10, http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/swimming_in_it_5qTztxLk63aHGIFzU6uGYN (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. G., Morriss, M., & Tolman, W. H. (1897) Report on Public Baths and Public Comfort Stations. New York: The Mayor's Committee of New York City.Google Scholar
Hartman, Margaret (2012) “McCarren Pool violence spreads, teen stabbed and beaten in park.” New York Magazine, July 11, http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/07/teen-stabbed-and-beaten-in-mccarren-park.html (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Huizinga, J. (1950) Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture. Boston: The Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Irwin, R., Drayer, J., Irwin, C., Ryan, T., and Southall, R. (2008) Constraints Impacting Minority Swimming Participation. Memphis: University of Memphis.Google Scholar
Iveson, K. (2007) Publics and the City. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Jennings, A. R. (1938) IMPORTANT. New York Municipal Archive. [Personal Correspondence with Latham, WH]. New York City: Department of Parks Archive, Box 102407, Folder 104.Google Scholar
Kisseloff, J. (1989) You Must Remember This: An Oral History of Manhattan from the 1890s to World War II. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Koeppel, G. T. (2000) Water for Gotham: A History. Princeton, NJ: New Jersey Press.Google Scholar
Lubove, R. (1962) The Progressives and the Slums: Tenement House Reform in New York City. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press Publishers.Google Scholar
McClish, C. (2012) “Urban playground antics and the redefining of public spaces.” Public 23 (45): 158–67.Google Scholar
Mitchell, D. (2003) The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space. New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Mogilevich, M., and Gutman, M. (n.d.) “NYC's greatest pools.” http://www.placematters.net/tour_stops_carousel_node/1674 (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Murnaghan, A. M. (2008) “Bathing boys: Children and change in the Toronto free bathing program, 1897–1929.” Master's thesis, McMaster Urban History/Studies Graduate Group, McMaster University.Google Scholar
Nasaw, D. (1993) Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
New York CBS Local (2012) “Patience wearing thin following several incidents at McCarren Park Pool.” July 3, http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/07/03/patience-wearing-thin-with-problems-at-mccarren-park-pool/ (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
New York City Parks (n.d.) “Parks’ swimming pools.” NYC Parks, www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/pools (accessed January 14, 2014).Google Scholar
New York Daily News (2012) “Hysteria about supposed disorder is based on misinformation.” July 29, http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/don-hype-mccarren-park-pool-safe-calm-keeping-brooklyn-cool-article-1.1123668 (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
New York Times (1871) “Free baths: Some account of the first floating baths in the city—opening of the free baths today—a great want inadequately supplied.” June 22.Google Scholar
New York Times (1874a) “The Department of Docks.” May 29.Google Scholar
New York Times (1874b) “Opening of the bathing season: Necessity of increased facilities—extravagant estimates for the new city baths.” June 13.Google Scholar
New York Times (2012a) “Don't believe the hype—McCarren Pool is safe, calm and keeping Brooklyn cool.” New York Daily News (online), July 29, http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/don-hype-mccarren-park-pool-safe-calm-keeping-brooklyn-cool-article-1.1123668 (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
New York Times (2012b) “Lifeguards attacked at McCarren Pool.” New York Times, June 29, www.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/nyregion/lifeguards-attacked-at-mccarren-pool.html?_r=0 (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Paine, R. D. (1905) “The bathers of the city.” The Outing Magazine, August.Google Scholar
Paiva, T., and Manaugh, G. (2008) Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration. New York: Chronicle Books.Google Scholar
Pinder, D. (2005) “Arts of urban exploration.” Cultural Geographies 12 (4): 383–411.Google Scholar
Renner, A. (2008) “A nation that bathes together: New York City's progressive era public baths.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 67 (4): 504–31.Google Scholar
Riess, S. A. (1989) City Games: The Evolution of American Urban Society and the Rise of Sports. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Rosen, G. (1993) A History of Public Health. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Schechner, R. (1988) “Playing.” Play and Culture 1 (1): 3–19.Google Scholar
Shapiro, J., Colvin, J., and Dreier, F. (2012) “Brawl shuts down McCarren Pool one day after it opens.” New York: DNAInfo.com, July 29, www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120629/greenpoint/brawl-shuts-down-mccarren-pool-one-day-after-it-opens (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
Shepard, B. (2006) “Toward a ludic counterpublic: Play, creativity, and the new street activism.” Drain, http://www.drainmag.com/ContentPLAY/Essay/Shepard.html.Google Scholar
Shepard, B., and Smithsimon, G. (2011) The Beach Beneath the Streets: Contesting New York City's Public Spaces. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Stern, M. (1946) Swim For Health. New York: Swim for Health Association.Google Scholar
Stevens, Q. (2007) The Ludic City: Exploring the Potential of Public Spaces. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
van Leeuwen, T. A. (2004) The Springboard in the Pond: An Intimate History of the Swimming Pool. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Von Borosini, V. (1910) “Our recreation facilities and the immigrant.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 35 (2): 141–51.Google Scholar
Williams, M. T. (1991) Washing “The Great Unwashed”: Public Baths in Urban America, 1840–1920. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar
Wiltse, J. (2007) Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
WNYC Newsroom (2012a) “Racial, economic tension not to blame for McCarren Pool violence.” WNYC, July 6, www.wnyc.org/story/220956-blog-racial-economic-tension-not-blame-mccarren-pool-violence-commish/ (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar
WNYC Newsroom (2012b) “Unruly crowd at McCarren closes pool early.” New York, June 29, http://www.wnyc.org/story/219733-blog-unruly-crowd-mccarren-closes-pool-early/ (accessed August 17, 2015).Google Scholar