Ace Plan for Tennis-Friendly McCarren Makeover

McCarren Park has the space and the potential to be an incredible tennis facility but unfortunately the city has let the current courts deteriorate to the point where they’re barely usable. Frustrated by this situation, a group of regulars has decided to try to take matters into their own hands. The band of self-described tennis nuts has envisioned a multi-step, multi-year plan for turning McCarren into a tennis center to rival the one in Prospect Park. And why not? In the short-term, all the group (called McCarren Tennis) is trying to accomplish is a simple resurfacing and installation of wind screens; they’ve already gotten the support of the Open Space Alliance for that. Stages 2, 3 and 4 involve the addition of more courts and the creation of a pavilion in the middle of them all. Ambitious? Sure. Crazy? Not really. All the developers who still have skin in the game in the neighborhood should be lining up to write a check for this. Not everyone will be pleased with the idea–some of the folks who enjoy a good game of concrete softball on the adjacent lot, for example. They might not realize, however, that the entire area was originally devoted exclusively to tennis once upon a time. To get the ball rolling, the group is holding a fundraiser tournament on the weekend of October 10th with a DJ party on Saturday night when the tennis is wrapped up. More info here.