McCarren Park Tennis Bubble Plans Aired
New York Shitty documented the Park Department’s presentation at Community Board 1 this week about the proposal to have a bubble on top of the McCarren Park tennis courts during the off-season. The show-and-tell comes in advance of an RFP being issued for the project. As it stands now, the idea is to award operation…
New York Shitty documented the Park Department’s presentation at Community Board 1 this week about the proposal to have a bubble on top of the McCarren Park tennis courts during the off-season. The show-and-tell comes in advance of an RFP being issued for the project. As it stands now, the idea is to award operation of the bubble to a concessionaire for a 15-year period; the city would continue to run the courts as usual during the outdoor season. A Parks rep says that while he can’t say exactly what the fees would be for using the facility, “$40 to $45 an hour” would be a “pretty typical” range for Brooklyn.
Banter About The “Bubble” [NYS]
BREAKING: McCarren Getting a Tennis Bubble [Brownstoner]
bkre — it’s just too bad that the summer fees are no longer a “minimal permit fee.”
I’d just be happy if they extended the outdoor pool season. It always struck me as ass-backward to open the beaches on Memorial Day, even though the ocean is freezing till mid-July, but the pools, which only need a few sunny days to warm up, don’t open still school lets out.
This is something I wish they’d consider doing with some of the outdoor pools. For instance if there was a way to put a bubble on the Red Hook pool and have people pay for off-season use–when it would otherwise sit fallow–and then in an ideal world have some of that money go into the renovation and upkeep of the rec center, I think that would be a win-win.
nevermind, duh, didnt realize it was split between 4 people.
*rob*
Rob – the thinking behind this is that during the summer the courts are part of the public park and can be used for free (or a minimal permit fee). During the winter months these courts are unusable. So rather than letting them just sit there, they enter into a contract with a private entity who foots the bill to build a bubble around the courts, making them usable for the winter. And in exchange the private entity is allowed to charge people to use the courts to make back the money he spends to build the bubble and make small profit. All in all it’s not a bad deal for the public.
Rob – the thinking behind this is that during the summer the courts are part of the public park and can be used for free (or a minimal permit fee). During the winter months these courts are unusable. So rather than letting them just sit there, they enter into a contract with a private entity who foots the bill to build a bubble around the courts, making them usable for the winter. And in exchange the private entity is allowed to charge people to use the courts to make back the money he spends to build the bubble and make small profit. All in all it’s not a bad deal for the public.
Indoor tennis is a luxury – one that I forego. I just put my racquet away from early November to mid-March. But since the courts would sit unused without a bubble, I have no problem with them doing this. Especially if the profits, if any, are put back into court maintenance which also benefits the people who use the courts from April to October.
$45 an hour, split among 4 people playing doubles, is still less than you’d spend hanging out in a bar.
quote:
$40 to $45 an hour
:-/ that’s messed up. i have no idea what the going rate is for playing tennis bubbles, maybe that’s going rate, but it’s still messed up. isnt this a public park? clearly it catering only to those with money. and please save your snarky comments, i stand by what i say
*rob*
technology, stock market, housing and now a tennis bubble. when will people learn.