New York beaches and pool will stay open one week later this year

Rejoice, New Yorkers!

The brutally hot days of summer aren't quite upon us yet, but New Yorkers got a taste of the dog days this week with a mini-heat wave that brought 90-plus-degree temperatures to the five boroughs. (According to NBC News, it hit 101 degrees at LaGuardia Airport today, breaking a temperature record set back in 1961. Thanks, climate change.)

Recognizing that city denizens will likely need more time to cool off this year, Mayor Bill de Blasio has pre-emptively announced that NYC's pools and some of its beaches will remain open until September 10, a full week later than the usual Labor Day close date. This is the third year in a row that the city has taken this step; last year, the extension helped bring the total number of visitors to 16 million for beaches, and nearly two million for pools.

The extension applies to all of the city's "Olympic and intermediate-sized outdoor pools," along with its six most popular beaches. In Brooklyn, that means Coney Island and Brighton Beach; in Queens, Rockaway Beach; in Staten Island, Midland and South Beaches; and Orchard Beach in the Bronx.

Alas, New Yorkers still have to wait to actually use the pools—they don't open until June 28. But beaches are open now, so if this horribly hot weather remains, you know what to do.