Soon, Upper East Side kids can have a latest swimming pool where they will learn beach and camp survival skills.
For its first location in Manhattan, Golden Fish Swimming School enters the longtime home of Lester’s, a beloved kid’s clothing store at 1534 Second Ave. on the southwest corner of East eightieth Street, which closed earlier this 12 months.
The one-story, 10,000-square-foot constructing will get a “massive” swimming pool – one measuring 70 by 22 feet – that can be visible from the street, The Post has learned.
The water can be heated to 90 degrees and the air to 92 degrees in order that the little fishes won’t shiver.
The pool, just 4.5 feet deep, can be designed for teaching, not for laps or diving, said Katie Lee, co-owner of the franchise.
Goldfish was founded in Michigan by Jenny McCuiston, a former swimming instructor who began researching the industry in 2004. Two years later, she and her husband Chris founded the Goldfish Swim School.
![The schools have viewing areas for families, and a school in Manhattan will have the same.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GSS_ViewingArea_AlisoViejoCA.jpeg?w=1024)
![Trained professionals teach children to swim.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GSS_Instructor4_RochesterMI.jpg?w=1024)
Every week, greater than 185,000 swimmers take lessons at Goldfish’s nearly 140 open swimming schools, with one other 153 being developed by franchisors in greater than 33 states and Canada.
Lee, a friend of McCuiston’s swim team, started off as an instructor and in 2009 began her first Goldfish franchise with friends and co-owners Hope and Brian Bayer.
As BHB Operations, the trio now has 20 locations across the country – including the upcoming Lester’s space, and three under construction in Queens.
BHB began locally with an area in Garden City and later Farmingdale, each on Long Island. COVID has them “pickled,” Lee said, so now schools in Astoria, Flushing and Glen Oaks are putting the ending touches and may open in early 2023.
![The changing rooms have a Tiki vibe.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GSS_HairDryerStation_AlisoViejoCA.jpeg?w=1024)
![There are locations in the US and Canada.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GSS_Class2_StCharlesIL.jpg?w=1024)
Lester’s renovation will begin in mid-January, and it can open later in 2023, said Val Paese, president of the Recent York region. “The corner is iconic, and having the ability to walk into such a space is unbelievable,” said Paese, former CEO of the Recent York Health & Racquet Club.
The “belly” of the Gunite pool can be sitting in the basement together with filters and mechanics. “We do not rent out pools, we install a correct dehumidification system and keep the air warmer than in the pool so kids don’t shiver after they exit,” Paese said. “No one does it to that extent. It’s an actual swimming school.”
Parents can watch their little guppies from the “dry side” of the facility behind the massive glass wall. At the end of the lesson, they will talk to the instructor on the “wet side” and escort their children first to the showers after which to the unique private changing room.
“It is not supposed to be like a locker room, however it’s such as you’re on vacation and also you’re walking into Tiki’s hut,” Lee said.
![The water and air in the pool will be kept at 90 degrees so that children do not get chills.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GSS_FullView_AlisoViejoCA.jpeg?w=1024)
![When it opens in 2023, the neighborhood kids will have fun while learning.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/GSS_SwimTeam2_RochesterMI.jpg?w=1024)
Some locations have a spot and time for birthday parties – but with lessons available from morning to night, that may not be possible at this Manhattan location, she said.
Peter Levine of Charter Realty represented the trio in a long-term take care of Lester’s – and is now negotiating and attempting to find other swimming spots in the area.
Lester and Lillian Kronfeld founded Lester’s near Coney Island in 1948 and eventually expanded throughout the tri-state area. Their daughter and son-in-law, Sheri and Perry Schorr, together with nephew, Barry Cohen, now own and operate Lester’s other locations.
Jeffrey Roseman and Drew Weiss of Newmark represented the family in a take care of an asking rent of $225 an foot.
“The goldfish is a fantastic example of a latest generation of savvy users choosing brick and mortar sites,” said Roseman. “It’s great that this corner of the Upper East Side will proceed to play a monumental role in the lives of children and their families, as Lester has for therefore many many years.”