Manhattan’s vigorous pickleball community has suffered a rare loss in its bid to bring formalized “pickle” courts to public parks, after the Parks Dept. altered its plans to include such courts in a planned $4.3 million redesign of Twenty-Four Sycamores Park, on E. 60th St.
The reason? Public outcry from the community over the proposed reduction in shared recreational space at the park, which is a popular hotspot for families with young kids, as well as basketball players. Currently, the basketball courts and the pickleball courts are essentially synonymous, making sharing and caring necessary.
The drama uncannily recalls a similar battle that has played out further north at Carl Schurz Park, on E. 86th St., which received four painted pickleball courts back in 2023; they’re similarly situated next to (quite cracked) basketball courts, on what used to be a unified play space.
A sign put up there this June perhaps best encapsulates the simmering tension of what Our Town has termed the “pickleball wars,” which have led to rumors of near-fistfights and tense community board meetings.
“This fence is here to establish designated play spaces. ALL pickleball activity must remain behind this fence,” a note affixed to the sign read then.
Well, fencing and local forums were in the mix again on Oct. 9, when a Parks Department spokesperson described the revised plan for Twenty-Four Sycamores to Community Board 8’s Parks & Waterfront subcommittee.
First, however, subcommittee chair Judy Schneider summarized why such a revision was necessary in the first place. She explained to new viewers that the subcommittee had signed off on the initial plan, which would have create dedicated courts delineated from the rest of the park’s play space.
Yet the wider board made a sharp pivot, issuing an advisory vote of disapproval, after it “had heard from so many members of the public that the plan was not what they wanted.”
Jon Ernsberger, the spokesperson presenting the revised plan, acknowledged this fact early on. He pointedly spoke of “little kids that ride around on scooters,” not to mention engage in other playful activities.
Therefore, Ernsberger said, that basketball courts and the pickleball courts would now remain one and the same. He added that this would cement “the current sharing practice that is in place,” as the Parks Dept. had now come to understand that it “was working fairly well.”
Crucially, a proposed fence would also vanish, in a marked counterpoint to Carl Schurz Park. Ernsberger did take a moment to defend the Parks Dept.’s original rationale, though, saying that “there are a lot of trade-offs going on here.”
“There’s a reason we had that before, and there’s a reason we’re taking it away. It had been included to stop errant balls from disturbing different users,” he added.
Yasmina Cale, who was Zooming into the meeting, was thrilled. “I really appreciate the responsiveness to the community feedback,” she said, addressing Ernsberger.
Michelle, a local mother of three young children, echoed Cale. “I’m really grateful and thankful that you listened to all of us, and that you took into account both the children and the adults,” she said.
Phillis Wallach, a pickleball player, took quite the opposite tack. “I’m not sure how the community, or how [Community Board 8], can be comfortable with this,” she said.
Our Town visited the cozy park, tucked beneath the Queensboro Bridge, on Oct. 15. Indeed, the recreational space was being used by two joyous tots, who couldn’t have been older than five. They seemed to be playing a game of tag, or using their imagination otherwise. No pickleball players were there.