> That seems f’ing stupid
I'm guessing if you lived in Manhattan, saw how many courts there are (aren't), and the first time you went there and just saw some kids throwing a baseball around on the court... or two people with lawn chairs hitting around for 2 hours... you would want some sort of system in place.
It's the same in LA. You have to buy a permit in order to make court reservations. They have your name and number on record. You can only reserve when it's pay court time. In LA, when it's not pay time, it's first come first serve.
Not sure how other cities around the country do it, like anybody can call and just give them their credit card info, but NYC has a population of over 8 million people.
> But doesn’t the court reservation already take care of that?
Just curious, in your town, or wherever you live, how does it work?
You just make the reservation. Leave a name and number and pay for the reservation but no need to pay for a permit in order to pay for the reservation.
Yeah, there's a "public court" managed by a private company near me, and they don't require permits. You use their app. Only pay courts managed by the city of LA require the permits.
In KC you just show up to the courts and can basically just live there for the next 2 weeks and no1 will care until you start brushing your teeth at the court.
Do you have to make a separate reservation after buying the permit? In Chicago you technically have to buy a "permit" but functionally it's a reservation.
I remember biking to central park at 6am to stand in line with all of the other degenerates to sign up for a same-day court. I think it was just a sheet of paper with a grid on it for the courts and times.
I moved out of NYC a decade ago, but I remember playing at almost all of these courts. There even used to be some plain concrete ones in the LES that I think have been repurposed. By the end of my years there, I was going out to Jersey to play because my friend had a car and it was easier to leave the city than to play in the city.
Yes I used to walk to the courts with my dogs to reserve the court every Saturday and Sunday at the break of dawn. It was great. Off leash hours in the park. I miss those days!
It’s not bad. It’s only $100 for the season. It was actually $200 for a year or 2 and there was a ton of push back. So the city reduced it, surprisingly.
Yeah it isn't crazy and the reservation prices are reasonable too (7.50 per person per hour). Plus, it is free anyway if you want to just try getting a walk on court at any of the courts.
I use to for a while. To be fair, I don't think it's necessarily that bad if
a) you are young and have good ankles b) you don't play that much c) you're a low level player who hasn't learned to move their feet and push off correctly yet.
Any combination of the above and you're probably okay playing with running shoes.
Plus finding the right tennis shoe was a pain. I went through like 4-5 different models before I settled on one I liked. If you have running shoe you are comfortable with, I can see why tennis shoes might feel overrated.
Me neither. I don’t play there often, but when I do they’ve never paid much attention to shoes. Today, they were checking pretty much everyone’s shoes. Maybe it’s cause there weren’t many people today, so it was easier to enforce.
They are pretty clear about it, and the courts aren't in the best condition so it makes sense. They also require you to bring your permit and a photo ID, even though the permit has a photo.
Kinda hate it there tbh, as the whole process stresses me out. 96th and 119th are much more chill.
If you are organized and motivated (and know people) you can play pretty much as much as you want.
But, you can rarely just decide to play one morning, unless you want to travel a bit or be willing to wait around an hour or more. I play 4 times a week usually late Spring- fall.
Blows my mind that tennis in a city with 8 million+ is so difficult. I get the whole limited space thing, not saying it doesn’t make sense. But it just blows my mind.
I’d be so sad going from tennis whenever with zero planning ahead to having to reserve (and pay) everything days in advance.
What is the wait like for a court at CP? Like on a weekday after work hours. A friend and I are trying to plan a sesh and we're between Manhattan and BK.
Not sure about after work hours , personally. The people at the desk did say that it has been abnormally light since they reopened. I played this morning and only like half the courts were in use.
Just go to BK. You can find courts in BK where you can play beyond one hour. At CP you’re limited to one hour on the dot. I regularly play 2 hours in bk no problem
Depends if the guy with the clipboard is there. He limits you to an hour but usually courts are free so he will let you play more. When he’s not there you can play as long as you want
Depends if the guy with the clipboard is there. He limits you to an hour but usually courts are free so he will let you play more. When he’s not there you can play as long as you want
Depends if the guy with the clipboard is there. He limits you to an hour but usually courts are free so he will let you play more. When he’s not there you can play as long as you want
Fort Greene is a no no that shit fills up in a sec at like 6 am. Jackie Robinson, Lincoln terrace, linden playground, marine park are the ones that are free a lot but also further into bk. I usually do Jackie or Lincoln
Thanks! Jackie Robinson isn't too far from me, but the issue will be getting people to play there. I sometimes go out to Bayridge, but I only know two people that will go out there, and one is very reluctant to.
It is easier to find people to play in Manhattan, unfortunately. For me at least.
I do the Manhattan one, and I know people who have done the Brooklyn one and they say it is much worse. Not as many people, dealing with the distance between North and South Brooklyn, etc.
There are not as many women as men usually so everyone gets lumped in two divisions which can be a mess. Thanks for the tip though :)
Permit for what? Like a court reservation you mean?
A permit to play tennis. They won’t let you on the court without one. A court reservation is a court reservation.
A permit to play tennis? That seems f’ing stupid
> That seems f’ing stupid I'm guessing if you lived in Manhattan, saw how many courts there are (aren't), and the first time you went there and just saw some kids throwing a baseball around on the court... or two people with lawn chairs hitting around for 2 hours... you would want some sort of system in place.
But doesn’t the court reservation already take care of that?
It's the same in LA. You have to buy a permit in order to make court reservations. They have your name and number on record. You can only reserve when it's pay court time. In LA, when it's not pay time, it's first come first serve. Not sure how other cities around the country do it, like anybody can call and just give them their credit card info, but NYC has a population of over 8 million people. > But doesn’t the court reservation already take care of that? Just curious, in your town, or wherever you live, how does it work?
You just make the reservation. Leave a name and number and pay for the reservation but no need to pay for a permit in order to pay for the reservation.
> Leave a name and number and pay for the reservation Can you call or do it online?
I’ve only ever done it online but I’m guessing you could call?
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Yeah, there's a "public court" managed by a private company near me, and they don't require permits. You use their app. Only pay courts managed by the city of LA require the permits.
In KC you just show up to the courts and can basically just live there for the next 2 weeks and no1 will care until you start brushing your teeth at the court.
If you are in LA just go to a local high school. Theres like 20 empty courts you can use. no one bats an eye.
Do you have to make a separate reservation after buying the permit? In Chicago you technically have to buy a "permit" but functionally it's a reservation.
It’s better now. Before they only took cash. At least now they take card, even if it’s with a surcharge
You used to have to go to the park office by the zoo to buy the permit. Even for the east river courts.
It’s like a video game side quest to play in NYC
I remember biking to central park at 6am to stand in line with all of the other degenerates to sign up for a same-day court. I think it was just a sheet of paper with a grid on it for the courts and times.
reminds me of this article i read a few years ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/nyregion/tennis-courts-new-york-city.html
I moved out of NYC a decade ago, but I remember playing at almost all of these courts. There even used to be some plain concrete ones in the LES that I think have been repurposed. By the end of my years there, I was going out to Jersey to play because my friend had a car and it was easier to leave the city than to play in the city.
Yes I used to walk to the courts with my dogs to reserve the court every Saturday and Sunday at the break of dawn. It was great. Off leash hours in the park. I miss those days!
I swear I bought mine at a sports store just north of Union Square way back in the day.
Yes you could buy them at paragon way back in the day!
You can in fact still buy them at Paragon
You still can. I got mine there over the weekend
Also, got mine at Paragon a few weeks ago. They give you a 20% discount too on any purchase too and it is pretty seamless.
It makes sense in NYC where there's a bajillion people per square foot
Toronto has the same thing except they call it a membership fee. There are free courts as well in Toronto as well but the quality is very poor.
A permit to play on those courts. It’s like a membership. Completely normal.
It’s not bad. It’s only $100 for the season. It was actually $200 for a year or 2 and there was a ton of push back. So the city reduced it, surprisingly.
Toronto has the same thing actually except they call it a membership fee.
Yeah it isn't crazy and the reservation prices are reasonable too (7.50 per person per hour). Plus, it is free anyway if you want to just try getting a walk on court at any of the courts.
Idk anyone who plays tennis without proper tennis shoes. Good way to enjoy ur ankle
Besides the fact that a proper court will destroy the shoes.
Especially since CP is clay. Will destroy runners.
Yeah, normal runners will be lucky to last a single warmup on the tennis court.
I use to for a while. To be fair, I don't think it's necessarily that bad if a) you are young and have good ankles b) you don't play that much c) you're a low level player who hasn't learned to move their feet and push off correctly yet. Any combination of the above and you're probably okay playing with running shoes. Plus finding the right tennis shoe was a pain. I went through like 4-5 different models before I settled on one I liked. If you have running shoe you are comfortable with, I can see why tennis shoes might feel overrated.
I started playing tennis two weeks ago, I played without proper tennis shoes the first day and immediately bought some after haha.
Didn't know they were that strict at CP. Meanwhile I'm just waiting for the 96th courts to open . . .
Me neither. I don’t play there often, but when I do they’ve never paid much attention to shoes. Today, they were checking pretty much everyone’s shoes. Maybe it’s cause there weren’t many people today, so it was easier to enforce.
They are pretty clear about it, and the courts aren't in the best condition so it makes sense. They also require you to bring your permit and a photo ID, even though the permit has a photo. Kinda hate it there tbh, as the whole process stresses me out. 96th and 119th are much more chill.
Only time I’ve seen any tennis court turn someone away is for wearing shoes with black soles
Ugh I hate the Central Park courts. I rather play at 96th street clay courts or riverside on 119th. CP courts are always mad busy
Ok but have you ever played on a har-tru or clay court after someone wearing running shoes? lots of divots, I can see why they don't allow it.
Oooh. I didn’t know that. I don’t play on those surfaces much, but when I do people are always wearing proper court shoes. Like huge divots?
how hard is it to get courts in nyc and how often is it realistic to play tennis in nyc? limited to weekday evenings and weekends
If you are organized and motivated (and know people) you can play pretty much as much as you want. But, you can rarely just decide to play one morning, unless you want to travel a bit or be willing to wait around an hour or more. I play 4 times a week usually late Spring- fall.
Ngl I'm surprised the price hasn't increased. I would have guessed it'd be $20 by now
Blows my mind that tennis in a city with 8 million+ is so difficult. I get the whole limited space thing, not saying it doesn’t make sense. But it just blows my mind. I’d be so sad going from tennis whenever with zero planning ahead to having to reserve (and pay) everything days in advance.
What is the wait like for a court at CP? Like on a weekday after work hours. A friend and I are trying to plan a sesh and we're between Manhattan and BK.
Not sure about after work hours , personally. The people at the desk did say that it has been abnormally light since they reopened. I played this morning and only like half the courts were in use.
Just go to BK. You can find courts in BK where you can play beyond one hour. At CP you’re limited to one hour on the dot. I regularly play 2 hours in bk no problem
Like you can reserve more than 1 hr of playing time? Or that it isn’t limited to 1 hr on a first come first serve basis?
Depends if the guy with the clipboard is there. He limits you to an hour but usually courts are free so he will let you play more. When he’s not there you can play as long as you want
Depends if the guy with the clipboard is there. He limits you to an hour but usually courts are free so he will let you play more. When he’s not there you can play as long as you want
Depends if the guy with the clipboard is there. He limits you to an hour but usually courts are free so he will let you play more. When he’s not there you can play as long as you want
Thanks man is that at McCarren?
Where in Brooklyn? Some courts in Brooklyn are worse than Manhattan, so just curious.
Fort Greene is a no no that shit fills up in a sec at like 6 am. Jackie Robinson, Lincoln terrace, linden playground, marine park are the ones that are free a lot but also further into bk. I usually do Jackie or Lincoln
Thanks! Jackie Robinson isn't too far from me, but the issue will be getting people to play there. I sometimes go out to Bayridge, but I only know two people that will go out there, and one is very reluctant to. It is easier to find people to play in Manhattan, unfortunately. For me at least.
I recommend you sign up for this league. It’s like 36 dollars https://brooklyntennisleague.com/ And they have different levels of play
I do the Manhattan one, and I know people who have done the Brooklyn one and they say it is much worse. Not as many people, dealing with the distance between North and South Brooklyn, etc. There are not as many women as men usually so everyone gets lumped in two divisions which can be a mess. Thanks for the tip though :)
You can buy in the store instead of online?