{"id":195625,"date":"2026-04-13T16:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/195625\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T16:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:47:07","slug":"when-does-pickleball-return-to-central-parks-wollman-rink-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/195625\/","title":{"rendered":"When Does Pickleball Return to Central Park\u2019s Wollman Rink in NYC?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a long winter of wistfully eyeing empty courts, pickleball is officially making its return to Central Park<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Starting April 21, the iconic Wollman Rink<\/a> will once again swap skates for paddles as CityPickle<\/a> rolls back in for its fourth season, turning the space into a sprawling, 14-court pickleball hub right in the heart of the park.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve walked by before, you already know the vibe: a steady hum of rallies, a mix of die-hard players and curious first-timers and the sight of one of New York\u2019s most famous ice rinks turned into a sunny court complex. This year, the setup runs daily from 8 am to 9 pm through early fall, with programming that includes open play, clinics and private lessons for every level.<\/p>\n

The courts can host hundreds of players each day and reservations open on a rolling basis one week in advance, meaning you\u2019ll need to plan ahead if you\u2019re hoping to snag a prime-time slot. One of the biggest draws remains the $5 community play sessions, which run for several hours each day and include complimentary paddle rentals, making it one of the more affordable ways to spend an afternoon in Central Park.<\/p>\n

\"city
\nPhotograph: Justin Steele <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a noticeable push this season to get younger players involved. A new summer camp, running from late July through August, aims to pull kids off screens and onto the courts, with small-group coaching and half- and full-day options for families looking to fill empty summer weeks.<\/p>\n

Off the court, food and drinks will once again be handled by Great Performances<\/a>. If you\u2019re feeling fancy, there are even courtside cabanas and a VIP lounge available to rent, meaning you can absolutely turn a casual game into a full-day social situation.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re chasing your next obsession or just looking for a new excuse to linger in the park, pickleball season is back<\/a>\u2014and Central Park might just be the city\u2019s most scenic place to get hooked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a long winter of wistfully eyeing empty courts, pickleball is officially making its return to Central Park.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[4773,75,84,83,9,24,4774,63,4772],"class_list":{"0":"post-195625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-categories-sports-and-fitness","9":"tag-manhattan","10":"tag-manhattan-headlines","11":"tag-manhattan-news","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-news-sports-fitness","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-sports-and-fitness"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}