Free tennis areas in NYC
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Rickson
G.O.A.T.
I sometimes go to 149 St. right off of 32nd Ave in Whitestone which is one town over from Flushing. The courts are always open to the public and although you're technically supposed to have a NYC parks permit, noone ever checks and they're not needed in the winter time at all. If you're looking for indoor courts in Queens, go to Alley Pond Park which is right across the street from Creedmoor hospital (in case you want to visit Phil) or you can go to Queens College. Both places go for around 30 bucks an hour unless you play during off times where Alley Pond has a special for 22 bucks. Good luck with your court search.
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thanks Rickson Ill be sure to check out those places. thanks
does any one know any other places =D
thanks
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
It would help to know what part of Queens you're from or at least where you're willing to travel. In any case, there's Astoria Park which is right under the Triborough Bridge and also free at this time. From April to November you can play with the NYC parks permit, but right now, it's still free.
The tennis courts are right next to the track in the first picture.
Astoria Park
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ahhh what a nice environment to play tennis! i live in elmhurst near the queens center mall. thanks
thank you too shahar26
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
Astoria Park's pretty nice, but during tennis season, you'll be waiting to book courts. Wait for a nice day and head out there. Hit me up and I'll meet you there. scanscape@yahoo.com
iradical18
Professional
You have to buy a permit to play at parks in NYC?
Shahar26
Rookie
Yes, for most of them, and the crazy thing is, they DON'T sell them by the courts!!!!!!!
It's $7 per person per hour, or 100 for the season.
Welcome to the city
iradical18
Professional
That's insane. I never knew that. You cant use Public High School courts? And pardon me for being ignorant of big city living, I live in Sacramento :~).
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
It's a hundred bucks for the season. It's not that much if you split the cost with a tennis partner. The season lasts from April to November. The good thing about it is that you can play at any NYC park that has courts while those without permits have to sneak around.
Shahar26
Rookie
Parag0n on 17th and Broadway (they do single passes, I assume they do seasonal too, but you can call them to make sure).
As far as I know it's $7 per person (even old farts), and 100 for the season.
Shahar26
Rookie
stormholloway
Legend
How would you split the cost with a partner? I don't get it.
I believe they do sell day passes at the Central Park courts, and definitely do at Riverside red clay near 96th street.
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
One of you has the actual pass and you both pay 50 bucks. You only need 1 pass to get on a court, you don't need 4 people with passes if you're playing doubles.
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
James Blake grew up playing most of his tennis at the Tennis Club of Trumbull with Brian Barker in Trumbull, Connecticut. Blake grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut. Blake went to the Armory in Harlem on the weekends with his father who was a volunteer when not playing in tournaments.
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
Do you understand that it's $100 for the season to reserve a court? It's not $100 per person.
jasoncho92
Professional
Rickson, i played at the 149th st courts all of the time before. I mightve played with you before lol
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
I was the guy who gave you a rubber band for your racquet. You were there with your caucasian friend.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Any queens peeps that can hit a decent ball, feel free to give me a shout.
Alley pond isn't too bad of a shot for me on a saturday.
J
Alley pond isn't too bad of a shot for me on a saturday.
J
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
I think I need some more Rocky style training before I meet you.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
I don't believe that correct. You can't "reserve a court" for 100 bucks a season. Isn't it that 100 bucks gives you a season pass? If you have a permit, can I play with you for free? I'm not sure. Plus, if you're not with me, I would need to borrow your permit and pretend I'm you or something, right?
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
It's a hundred bucks for the season and the permit gives you the right to play on a signed up court for 1 hour. The park permit has a pic so nobody can pretend to be another, but it's worth 50 bucks a piece if you have a steady partner. You sign your name on a clipboard. Permit #1234. You get your court when one opens up and no, not every player needs a permit. Only the guy signing in his permit number.
So if you only play tennis with one other person all season, I guess splitting a pass might work. For most other scenarios it seems impractical, no?
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
If you have a lot of hitting partners and you claim the permit, your primary hitting partner should definitely pay less than half, but if it's just the 2 of you, 50/50 would work out. I had a similar situation with my gym membership. My former roommate only went to the gym when I went, so I purchased a membership that carries a guest pass for the duration of my membership. My roommate couldn't go without me, but he didn't have a car so it was good that way anyway. He paid for the guest pass portion of the membership.
stormholloway
Legend
I didn't realize both guys didn't need passes. I thought everyone who played needed a pass, i.e. you can't bring a guest. I hope I've been wrong.
M
Morrissey
Guest
You can give me a shot. I'm in Queens but close to the city, about 2 stops on the subway from home. There's this free place near my home with lights at night. Of course it's too cold to play of late. I go to Cunningham Park on saturday nights. Maybe we hit someday.
M
Morrissey
Guest
I live near you. Try going to Maurice park in Maspeth. They're free and no permits. Even lights at night. You'll see me there when the weather's nice. You'll know who I am when you see me. Especially if you know who I root for in here.
That was my understanding too. But then, I have only used day passes myself, and rarely at that, so I do not know the specifics of the season pass.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Good deal, the LI Crew has a yahoo group, feel free to sign up when the weather warms, or now. So you guys can keep up on happenings.
We have a good amount of players in Nassau so you guys should be able to arrange some play.
And of course, I will take a drive on the weekends, because I am one of those "Have racquets, will travel." kinds of people.
J
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
Remember all the complaints I had about slow hardcourts? I was referring to Alley Pond. I hate those slow courts, but I still have a winning record there. I'll meet you out there soon, J011y, but we'll have to go for doubles.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
I played at alley pond a few times, and did ok in an open there (not too thrilled with the match times, getting to sleep at 1am and having to play the next day at 9:30 pm after a day of work) I thought the courts were fairly quick there. Maybe my memory is hazy, but they weren't lightning fast like a worn out public court, or old Nova Ultracushion, they were certainly fast by new court standards.
J
jasoncho92
Professional
Nevermind then lol. I didnt play tennis with a caucasian friend. I think i played with most of the people there that came often though
The other posters who have been saying that not every player needs a pass or permit are incorrect. To play on NYC courts during the season from April - November, EVERYONE needs a pass or a permit. So splitting the cost for a permit is not really practical if you want to play in Manhattan. Plus the permit has your picture on it, so I would think that the two people splitting would have to look somewhat alike.
Now, there are probably plenty of courts in the 5 boroughs where they don't enforce this rule, but I know that Central Park, Lower East Side, and Riverside Park at 96th & 119th street, definitely do enforce this, having played at all those courts many times. Some of the people working at these places can be like ****s about checking for permits or passes.
The only park in Manhattan where you can buy a single-play pass is Central Park. But you cannot buy a permit there. For permits, you have to go to either P a r a g o n Sports or the Central Park Armory on 5th Avenue. You can also buy single-play passes at those two places too. For boroughs outside of Manhattan, you can go to http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_permits_and_applications/tennis_permits_renewals.html to see a list of places.
At 96th & Riverside, they do not sell single play passes (as one poster stated), but they will just take $7 if you don't have a pass.
Finally, there is also a public park at 145th street and Riverside Drive. This is the Riverbank State Park. This park does NOT take NYC city permits or passes because it's run by the State of NY (as opposed to the City of NY). There, they have four courts and they charge an hourly fee. Unfortunately, I forget what the fee is, but it's really cheap.
If any one has any more questions about playing tennis at the public courts in NYC, feel free to ask. It took me years to figure it out.
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J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Well, we'll see what Rickson has to say about this!
You can find the official rules here: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/facilities/af_tennis_rules_regs.html. Rule #1 indicates that all players must have a permit or pass.
As I said, I know there are plenty of courts in the boroughs where this rule isn't enforced or there is just a "clipboard" and no actual person checking. But I know that in Manhattan at the four tennis facilities I mentioned before, there is always an actual Parks employee checking that each player has a permit or a pass. I've even seen two people go on a court, who have a 3rd friend joining them later. But the third person was kicked off for not having a permit or pass.
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We'll see what Rickson has to say about this!
Thats good I don't live in NYC. There are so many regulations and the cost of court time is insane. Plus the people there are rude and just terrible. I played in NYC once because a friend lives there. Playing Tennis in NYC reminded me of watching The Sopranos.
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J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
A lot of them are awesome friendly and helpful people, and some of them happen to be my friends.
J
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
He was right the first time. We are rude and terrible.
J011yroger
Talk Tennis Guru
Rickson
G.O.A.T.
I can't get caught with a paper trail, Jo11y, so you take their credit cards and I'm taking the cash.
