Friday, December 31, 2010

Snow means trouble for bubbles

From A Walk in the Park:

Three tennis bubbles located in City parks collapsed under the weight of snow from the storm that blanked the area on Monday.

One bubble, housing five courts at the controversial $ 19 million dollar Sportime Randall's Island caved in. Workers were seen removing snow by a small front-end loader and clearing away debris. Personnel were also seen reviewing blue prints of the bubbles.

The facility is home to the John McEnroe Tennis Academy for Elite players and is managed by John's brother Mark. The enormous project was ushered through by the Randall's Island Sports Foundation and bypassed ULURP and appropriate environmental reviews.

All indoor tennis in Prospect Park in Brooklyn were suspended after its two bubbles at the Prospect Park Tennis Center collapsed Monday.

"The Prospect Park Tennis Center is currently closed," a message on the Prospect Park Alliance tennis center voice mail says. "Both bubbles collapsed due to heavy snow. We are making a concerted effort to remove the snow and re-inflate the bubbles. We plan to be open on Sunday, January 2nd."

A message on the website stated: "The severe storm conditions caused the Tennis Center bubbles to come down. The Tennis Center may be closed for the week. Please check our website or give the Center a call at (718) 436 2500 for updates.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Randalls Island tennis facility can be paid for by it's exclusive users - all of the wealthy private schools in Manhattan - poor little rich kids - they have to travel to Europe to play tennis on the weekends, how inconvenient is that?

Elsewhere folks, the Parks Dept should wait to spring and have open air tennis. They can also send everyone to the UST in Flushing Meadows - after all former Mayor Dinkens gave away part of Flushing Meadows Park to this for profit private organization to build on, the best tennis facilities for the rich that money can buy!

Anonymous said...

The Randalls Island tennis facility can be paid for by it's exclusive users - all of the wealthy private schools in Manhattan - poor little rich kids - they have to travel to Europe to play tennis on the weekends, how inconvenient is that?

Elsewhere folks, the Parks Dept should wait to spring and have open air tennis. They can also send everyone to the UST in Flushing Meadows - after all former Mayor Dinkens gave away part of Flushing Meadows Park to this for profit private organization to build on, the best tennis facilities for the rich that money can buy!