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Sports

Tennis Players May Get Served With Double Fees

The city is considering doubling the fees that people pay to play on public tennis courts or use the city's recreation centers.

Forget about playing doubles, if the city’s proposed fee hikes go into effect, tennis players throughout New York will be paying double.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department is considering raising the price of tennis permits from $100 to $200 this season, and single play tickets from $7 to $15.  Recreation center fees would also be doubled, while the cost of using balls fields would increase by about 60 percent.

“It stinks,” said Dana Safran, 44, a Park Slope resident who buys a tennis court permit every summer.  “I don’t want to pay it, but the city’s in trouble, right?”

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The fee increases are part of a larger effort by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration to close a $2.4 billion gap in the city’s budget.  If the hikes go into effect, they could bring in $4 million a year.  Last year, tennis fees brought in $1.8 million, according to the Parks Department.

“Because of the fiscal crisis, all city agencies are required to reduce spending and increase revenue,” said Philip Abramson, a spokesperson for Parks and Recreation.

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The department held a public hearing on the proposal this Tuesday.  The Parks commissioner now has 30 days to reviews the public’s comments and make his final decision.

Many of the city’s tennis players say they’re outraged by the proposal.  While fees will increase dramatically, some say, most courts will remain in only decent or poor condition.

“The courts are horrible, they don’t even replace the nets,” said Sophia Bishop, 38, who traveled from Canarsie this week to play tennis on the indoor courts at the Prospect Park Tennis Center

Bishop said that unlike Prospect Park’s well-maintained courts, all of the other city courts she’s played on have been in serious need of repair.  “The fees aren’t worth it,” she said.

Last year, over 20,000 individuals paid for tennis permits, which entitle owners to one hour of tennis a day, from April to November.  Over 40,000 others paid for single play sessions last season.

The money raised by the tennis permits and other Parks Department fees goes to a general city fund, which is used to pay for municipal expenses such as teacher salaries and road repairs, as well as tennis court maintenance.

Some tennis advocates expressed concern that the proposed fee hikes would make the public courts less accessible to lower-income players, further feeding into the stereotype of tennis as an elite pastime.

“For people of modest means, $200 is a lot of money to play tennis for the summer,” said City Council Member Stephen Levin. Levin sent a letter to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe this week asking him to reconsider the fee hike, which Levin wrote “may drastically reduce the number of people who can afford to play.”

Amelia Costigan, a designer who lives in Windsor Terrace and plays tennis at Prospect Park, is also worried that higher fees will mean less diversity on the city’s courts.

“You rub elbows here with people that you might not normally meet,” said Costigan.  “It’s been a nice community of tennis players, and doubling the fees is going to exclude part of that community.”

The proposed hourly fees for tennis courts are significantly higher than for ball fields.  While an hour of tennis would cost $15 per player, a softball player on a team of 10, for example, could pay as little as 80 cents to $1.60 an hour, depending on the type of field.

Other community members are asking how raising the price to play sports squares with the mayor’s health and fitness initiatives.

Charles Walowitz, 72, is a retired dentist and avid tennis player who lives in Prospect Heights.  He said he’s worried that many people his age won’t be able to afford the higher fees.  He fears that, as a result, their health will decline while their medical bills swell.

“For those of us who are retired, every little bit means something,” Walowitz said.

“The last thing that we want to do is put any impediments in the way of people trying to exercise,” said Roger Westerman.  An industrial designer who lives in Park Slope. Westerman, 48, has played tennis at Prospect Park for over a decade.

Abramson, the Parks spokesperson, noted that recreation center memberships are free for children under 18 and available at a reduced price for seniors aged 62 and above.  Seasonal tennis permits are only $20 for seniors.  He also pointed out the many free programs for young people and adults – from street hockey clinics to swim lessons and Pilates classes – offered by the city.

Whether or not they’re happy about the possible fee hike, some tennis players still say the public courts are a still bargain.

“It’s really hard to argue with raising the fees, when you see what they charge in the private market,” said Jonathan Dahl, 53, editor-in-chief of SmartMoney magazine, and a Prospect Park tennis player.

“Let’s face it,” Dahl said at the courts this week, “tennis is an expensive sport.”

If approved, the new tennis fees will go into effect this April, the recreation center fees July 1 and the field use fees sometime in the fall.

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