Tennis courts

Any free ones around?

Free? No. You have to buy a $100 tennis permit. Although you can go out to Bay Ridge and play on those courts on Ft. Hamilton Pkway until Mid May for free (they don't check the passes until mid-May.)

If you want to go to Bed Stuy there are free ones on Utica between Bainbridge and Fulton. There also used to be courts at Boys and Girls High School across the street, but I think those have been closed because no one was using them.

Do you find that it's hard to get a court on the weekends (with the $100 permit) at Prospect Park? I don't mind paying if I'll actually get to play

there been a free one for a few decades and the parks dp never close it. you just walk in no permits, its on 66 and 67 st and 8 and 7 ave. i used to go there when i was younger. also a good idea to bring your own net. oh on the outside it would say permits. but its the only one in nyc thats free and no gates or anything. park is called leif ericson park.

it has 10 tenis courts there .

PS Sarah wrote: Do you find that it's hard to get a court on the weekends (with the $100 permit) at Prospect Park? I don't mind paying if I'll actually get to play

Well not that I want to compete with one more person for a court, but...if you get the permit, you can actually make a reservation on the weekends. If you want to play first thing in the morning....it can be tricky but if you don't mind playing at 10:00 or 11:00 you won't have a problem. Or you can just go to the trailer (and buy a $7.00 day pass).

I believe Leif Ericson the courts are really badly cracked. If you are just beginning, it is not big deal.

You buy a tennis permit from the city for $100 and then you can play on any public outdoor court in any park in NY-enjoy

Kensingtonmom wrote: [quote=PS Sarah]Do you find that it's hard to get a court on the weekends (with the $100 permit) at Prospect Park? I don't mind paying if I'll actually get to play

Well not that I want to compete with one more person for a court, but...if you get the permit, you can actually make a reservation on the weekends. If you want to play first thing in the morning....it can be tricky but if you don't mind playing at 10:00 or 11:00 you won't have a problem. Or you can just go to the trailer (and buy a $7.00 day pass).

I believe Leif Ericson the courts are really badly cracked. If you are just beginning, it is not big deal.yeah some of them are. i wish the city fix the courts . but its free hehe.

If you have a car yeahm, the ones in Coney Island are usually free. If you want to play in Bay Ridge or prospect or McClarren park or anywhere else like the East River Park, spend the $100.

Lincoln Terrace Park - take the 3/4 to Utica Avenue, go a block east and then south of Eastern Parkway. Not sure if free/not sure of condition, but I know some PHers who go out there often.

Last time I had a permit (the last year it was $50) we used to go to Fort Greene Park where they had unsupervised courts and just a sign-up sheet for courts. You could usually get a court pretty easily there (and there was often no one checking permits back then).

They also offer "single-play" permits for $7 each if $100 a year seems like a lot to you.

http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_permits_and_applications/tennis_permits_renewals.html
(the price of $7 is only visible on the PDF for new tennnis applications).

steveo wrote: Last time I had a permit (the last year it was $50) we used to go to Fort Greene Park where they had unsupervised courts and just a sign-up sheet for courts. You could usually get a court pretty easily there (and there was often no one checking permits back then).

unfortunately, this is no longer the case. on weekends, if you show up at 11:45, you should be able to get a court for the 1-2pm slot.. i think after 5pm on weekends, it's a bit easier.

but plan on waiting 1 to 1.5 hours for a court during prime time.

The situation at Fort Greene has gotten worse and worse. Locals show up early, sign up, leave and come back later. I ride my bike there from the Slope (FG is more convenient for my regular tennis partner) and on weekends the wait can be around 2 hours for a court because they're all booked. I really wish the attendant would enforce a rule that you can't sign up more than an hour ahead.

I'm actually looking for new people to play with (singles or doubles) in Prospect Park. I'm a solid intermediate player (been at it for 20 years). Please contact me at [email hidden] if interested.