Frustration mounts as Jackie Robinson Park tennis courts remain locked

Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Marty Maher has consistently said that the tennis courts at Bed-Stuy’s Jackie Robinson Park Playground are going to remain closed until April.

Bed-Stuy residents started a Change.org petition in mid-January to try to get the commissioner to open the tennis courts for off-season use or give a valid reason for keeping them closed. They say they want to be able to use them during the winter, the same way the borough’s other walk-on tennis court facilities are being used.

But, so far, the Parks Department has only responded to AmNews inquiries about this situation by insisting that the courts are closed this winter because of “repeated vandalism and misuse during the prior season.”

“They want us to believe these things,” Frances Ferdinand, the director of HQ Tennis LLC, said in response to those claims, “but I feel like that’s a very political answer because we know that that’s not the case.” Coach Ferdinand has been utilizing the Jackie Robinson Park tennis courts for the past five years to both give tennis instruction and sponsor free and low-cost classes for kids and adults.

Seeing that promoting park use made the neighborhood safer, Ferdinand and members of the Friends of Jackie Robinson Park Playground, advocated for renovations that saw the tennis courts resurfaced and repainted. She was shocked last spring, though, when her company was outbid by a tennis company that was new to the neighborhood for the exclusive right to teach classes on the park’s four tennis courts.

Some community members believe the entire neighborhood is being penalized because they spoke out against the Parks Department’s highest bidder court concessions process. They claim that now everyone is being restricted from accessing the tennis courts.

“This is the first time in the five years that I’ve been coaching and the years that I’ve been around Brooklyn that I know for those courts to be locked during the winter like this,” Ferdinand said in disappointment. “Like if people are brave enough to play outdoors in the winter, then they should be able to do it. It’s crazy to me that you would close off a part of the park. The whole park is not closed. If I want to play basketball, I can play basketball. If I want to play handball, I can play handball. If my kids want to play in the park and swing on the swings, they can do that. But if I want to play tennis, that’s the only thing that’s locked.”

For dedicated tennis enthusiasts, there are plenty of days during winter when outdoor tennis matches can be played. This is one of the benefits of residing in a city like New York, a place recently recognized by the personal finance website WalletHub as the nation’s second-best city for an active lifestyle. The city provides lots of opportunities for engaging in physical exercise. According to the site’s survey, New York offers dance schools, swimming lessons, bike rental services, basketball courts, soccer fields, ice rinks, and the second-highest number of playgrounds per capita –– all amenities that offer people chances to maintain fitness.

NYC Parks Department regulations state that the public is required to have access to parks and that “outdoor tennis courts are open daily, weather permitting, except when under construction or repair, or when reserved for tournaments or special events.”

Kenny Bruno, another local tennis player who is frustrated by the closing off of the courts, told the AmNews that he had spoken to Commissioner Maher, who “told me that the decision to close the courts for the winter was made by the Revenue Division and he abided by it.” But when Bruno also spoke with representatives of NYC Parks Department Commissioner Sue Donoghue, he was told that the commissioner herself closed the courts, not because of vandalism or because of anything to do with the Revenue Division. There had been three incidents where people felt threatened on the courts, and since there was no Parks personnel available to monitor the area, the commissioner decided to lock it down.

Councilmember Chi Ossé’s office has not responded to numerous requests for comment about what is happening with the Jackie Robinson’s Park tennis courts. But the office of State Sen. Jabari Brisport, who also represents the district, said that though they don’t have jurisdiction over the Parks Department because it’s a city agency, they’ve reached out to Maher’s office to advocate for the courts’ re-opening. “I have reached out to NYC Parks about this, and they have not provided sufficient justification for punishing an entire community by closing its courts for the whole season,” Sen. Brisport said in a statement. “Public spaces like these courts provide a place for community members to connect with each other, to maintain their physical and emotional wellbeing, and to experience joy together; they are not trivial and should not be withheld from the public they were built to benefit.”

The Parks Department said in a statement to the AmNews, “We look forward to reopening the courts in April when the tennis season begins. To help ensure compliance and safety for both Parks staff and the community, Parks will station a seasonal tennis attendant at the courts. We appreciate the community’s advocacy and look forward to reopening soon. We have been in communication with the local council member and community board about this issue.”