Growing up on Staten Island: Fond memories of summer at the Tottenville Pool

Editor’s note: A version of this story was originally published in 2019. It has been updated by Nicolette Cavallaro.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Growing up in West Brighton in the ’70s and ’80s, my family did not have a swimming pool, so any and all invitations to friends’ houses for a dip were happily accepted. And, for sure, I’d walk any distance within a mile or two to cool off on a hot and hazy summer afternoon, towel and flip-flops in hand.

Once, a friend’s mom drove us for a special treat -- a day at the Tottenville Pool (a public pool run by the city Parks Department) at the complete other tippety-end of the Island, which may have been in another state.

It took 30 minutes to get there in my friend’s mom’s Brady Bunch station wagon, with the windows rolled all the way down, my face gle