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Toni Marquez <\/strong>(pictured above) Are you a regular here?<\/strong> How do you spend your time outside swim class?<\/strong> What\u2019s the dynamic like among audience members?<\/strong> Melody D. Walton<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Spanish Harlem<\/p>\n Milagros Medina<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, East Harlem<\/p>\n How else do you stay active?<\/strong><\/p>\n By going to my doctors\u2019 appointments, walking to the mall, picking up my granddaughter once a week. I take her to the park. She\u2019s 4 years old and smart as a whip. I keep her busy, she keeps me busy.<\/p>\n Jennifer Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Spanish Harlem\u00a0<\/p>\n Betty Santos<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Spanish Harlem\u00a0<\/p>\n How long have you been swimming here?<\/strong><\/p>\n Since I was a kid. And let me tell you, back then at night, this pool was beautiful because they had night pool sessions and the water had light. Oh my God. It was gorgeous. They don\u2019t do that anymore, though.<\/p>\n Julia Tindal<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Spanish Harlem<\/p>\n Rachel Nickerson Luna<\/strong><\/p>\n Writer, Harlem\u00a0<\/p>\n Deborah Murray Hackle<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, East Harlem<\/p>\n Sally Schaffert<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Spanish Harlem<\/p>\n A lot of your classmates grew up around here. Did you too?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m from upstate, but I used to live in California in the 1970s. I was living in Oakland, and there was an earthquake in San Francisco. So I decided in 1978 to come back because I\u2019d rather be in a hurricane or a blizzard any day. If the earth opens up, you\u2019re going with it.<\/p>\n Inez Simmons<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, East Harlem\u00a0<\/p>\n Vera Lucia Zeveloff<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Harlem<\/p>\n Iris Rivera<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Spanish Harlem<\/p>\n How was the class today?<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, it was great. It went so smoothly. I think you work out better in the water. You don\u2019t feel the arthritis pain or anything like that.<\/p>\n Leda Grasso<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, East Harlem<\/p>\n Carol Miller<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, El Barrio\u00a0<\/p>\n Margarita Burgos-Ulanga<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, El Barrio<\/p>\n How have you seen the neighborhood change over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n I feel that it\u2019s gotten better. It\u2019s changing. The only thing is the rents are high. There are so many people applying to the housing lottery that you have to hit the Lotto \u2014 you have to be really lucky to get that apartment. So it\u2019s hard. It\u2019s hard for the young people. But I\u2019m good here.<\/p>\n Maria Dones<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, El Barrio<\/p>\n Rhonda Taylor<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Spanish Harlem<\/p>\n Do you have a favorite exercise to do in the pool?<\/strong><\/p>\n I like when our instructor, George, pulls out the plastic tubes that you have to bend because that works on the arms and a lot of people do not have enough arm strength. They are used to walking, but they\u2019re not used to using their arms.<\/p>\n Virginia Garcia<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, Spanish Harlem<\/p>\n Denise Sturdivant<\/strong><\/p>\n Retiree, East Harlem<\/p>\n \n Photographs by Frankie Alduino\n <\/p>\n Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism. Want more stories like this one? Subscribe now<\/a>
Retiree, Upper West Side<\/p>\n
I used to go to this pool when I was a young girl till I was a teenager. Then I moved away from the neighborhood, and now that I\u2019m retired, this is my new life again. I actually travel from the Upper West Side to come here because it brings back many memories.<\/p>\n
I am an avid TV-show-audience member. I was just at Kelly and Mark last week. So I do all that \u2014 The View, Tamron Hall, Kelly Clarkson I\u2019ve done twice already. Jimmy Fallon. I did Drew Barrymore, and I\u2019ve won a lot of gifts on all of them, too.<\/p>\n
Ninety-five percent of them are from out of town. The other 5 percent are the regular locals, which is me. The guards know who I am: \u201cHey, Toni, how are you?\u201d That feels good. But I enjoy going by myself. I keep in touch with a lot of people I\u2019ve met in the audience, like this one young lady I met on The View last year. She was from out of town. After the show, I helped her with directions and we took the bus uptown together. Every other Monday, she\u2019ll give me a good-morning text: \u201cHow are you today? How\u2019s life going?\u201d Just simple things like that.<\/p>\n
\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the August 11, 2025, issue of
\n New York\u00a0Magazine.<\/p>\n
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\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the August 11, 2025, issue of
\n New York Magazine.<\/p>\n