Parks Dept. Still Plans to Demolish Tony Dapolito Center; Reveals New Tower Plans
A new mixed-use residential building at 388 Hudson St., years away from being built, would include recreational space overseen by the Parks Department. In turn, the landmarked and decrepit Tony Dapolito Recreation Center—located across the street—would be demolished.
| 11 Sep 2026 | 04:14
The NYC Parks Dept. has further detailed their involvement in a planned housing project at 388 Hudson St., where they would oversee recreational space. Its construction would coincide with the destruction of the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center. (
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The 117-year-old Tony Dapolito Center has been closed since 2021 due to accumulated disrepair, with local residents and advocates calling on Parks Dept. officials to fully restore and reopen it. (
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The new 388 Hudson St. project, still in the design and approval stage, could include a six-lane pool (above). (
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The Parks Department has updated Community Board 2 on their plans to design a new affordable housing and recreational tower in Chelsea, a process that would appear to include demolishing the landmarked Tony Dapolito Recreation Center.
The latter building, which is technically located across the street on a completely separate parcel, has been closed since 2021 due to accumulated disrepair. In brighter times, its swimming pools and athletic courts served as a popular community gathering hub.
Yet since 2024, the Parks Dept. has argued that fixing up the 117-year-old premises and reopening them for public use would be too expensive, at least relative to tearing it down. Instead, they have decided to essentially replace the center’s services by involving themselves in the new project slated for 388 Hudson Street, which was formally unveiled in December of last year.
The Parks Dept. would oversee the 35-story building’s recreational center, while firms including Camber Property Group and Essence Development would ostensibly derive profit from numerous aboveground residential units, which are slated to be affordable.
This has, in turn, infuriated local preservationists who believe that conducting repairs on Tony Dapolito, which they say could be done with $51 million worth of earmarked funds, would be far more cost-efficient than building the new tower; one estimate has put development costs for 388 Hudson at $164 million.
Steve Simon, a Parks Dept. representative, described this new project as “coming to fruition” at a CB2 meeting held on September 9. Indeed, he noted that the board had requested such a project via a resolution passed a few years ago.
“We are looking beyond the initial design for the building, and soliciting programming ideas...so that our staff can go back to try and flesh things out,” Simons added.
Jesslyn T. Moser, another Parks Dept. employee, echoed this point after being passed the microphone: “We have very much heard your desire for a modern, multi-use recreation center.”
Such modern amenities, according to the Parks Dept., could include a six-lane pool and a larger basketball court. The new tower, which would back up into a public plaza, would also meet contemporary sustainability standards.
The entire project is still far away from being truly approved or opened to the public, however. A ULURP process would take place until 2028, and further planning could be ongoing into 2029. Once these bureaucratic and technical hurdles are cleared, 388 Hudson Street would then take an estimated 36 months to build.
During a public comment period held at the meeting, a few speakers expressed confusion and frustration over the ongoing threat posed to the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center. Longtime local resident Anita Isola said that, while she found the new project at 388 Hudson “wonderful” in and of itself, she also believed that “there’s no reason to demolish something that has been landmarked.”
“It sets a very bad precedent,” she added. “If you can demolish this piece, we can continue going on and demolish other elements of the city that are landmarked.”
Maria Hanson, who said that she first moved to the East Village to attend graduate school back in 1970, described herself as a longtime Tony Dapolito member. “I’m 80-years-old now, I haven’t had a gym in five years. I don’t think I want to wait another five years,” she said.