Board 8 Rejects Year-Round Tennis Bubble

Community Board 8 rejected the Parks Department"s plan to erect a bubble over the Queensboro Oval for year-round tennis. Softball and baseball players and some nearby residents oppose the plan because they use the oval, underneath the 59th Street Bridge, in the summer months. The full board voted to oppose the plan at its March 17 meeting 32 to 2, with one abstention. Members complained about the city taking away public space for private use, despite community concession like free hours of tennis. â??It"s just the fact that we"re getting so tired of the Parks Department giving away our parks, said board chair Jaqueline Ludorf in a subsequent interview. â??Why is it that we have so little space and you want to have it taken over by a tennis bubble all year long? Board 8"s parks committee [already voted] against the plan Feb. 19. At that meeting, ballplayers gave spirited testimony in favor of keeping the space open during summer months. At the March 17 full board meeting, Tony Scolnick, director of tennis at Sutton Place Tennis Club, which wants to extend its contract beyond winter months, delivered approximately 700 signatures in support of the plan. â??This is not about whether tennis is better than softball, or vice versa. Our discussion is about what is the best use for this property, Scolnick said, according to prepared testimony. â??We think this Parks Department plan simply makes good sense. William Castro, Manhattan"s borough parks commissioner, has previously said he will seriously consider Board 8"s opinion, which is only advisory, in making a final decision on the plan. The board has also asked for another review of the winter tennis bubble proposal in Central Park after the Upper West Side"s community board [raised questions](http://nypress.com/2010/03/18/central-park-tennis-bubble-loses-east-side-support/) about rates, noise and diesel generators. Board 8 backed an initial proposal for the Central Park tennis bubble in February 2009, but wants to evaluate the plan once it"s finalized, probably in May.