USTA will not have to replace any parkland it uses in possible expansion

The way the news outlets are talking, the USTA has their desired planned expansion in the bag – they still must submit their plans to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, go through a public vetting process and also get approval by the City Council, which will probably conclude Fall 2013 if all goes well (so says USTA Managing Director Daniel Zausner). They are hoping to use .68 acre of land in Flushing Meadows Corona Park for this expansion, and the latest tidbit of news regarding this is that they will not have to replace this land elsewhere in the city.

According to Crain’s, the city has instead asked the USTA to refurbish parkland nearby. This is because the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is open to the public 11 months out of the year and is a community resource. Courts are indeed open to the community, but at a cost of $40 to $66 an hour, which can be expensive for a lot of folks in the area.

Joshua Laird, the Parks Department’s assistant commissioner for planning and parklands, says this about the situation:

“In the case of USTA, we decided improvements in the park will provide a greater benefit than scrounging for a small parcel someplace else. We like the USTA; we like having the tennis center in Queens. The Open itself is important to the city.”

Tennis expansion in Queens nets locals a royal headache [Crain’s]
The USTA is likely expanding into Flushing Meadows Corona Park [QNYC]