By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — A golf cart would shuttle uptown tennis players from Fifth Avenue and Central Park West to climate controlled courts in Central Park where a match would cost up to $100 an hour, under a proposal being considered by the Parks Department.
The bubble would cover the 26 tennis courts near W. 95th Street in winter, and the cash generated from the hourly fees would go into the city's general fund.
But some Upper West Side residents, park advocates and the local community board have objected to the plan, saying it's an elitist idea that milks money of a public space and they've been kept in the dark about.
"The only people who will be able to afford this is the well-heeled," Upper West Side resident Cynthia Doty, 58, said at a Community Board 7 meeting Thursday night. Doty said she occasionally plays tennis at the Central Park courts, but could not afford the potential winter prices.
But Betsy Smith, an assistant Parks commissioner, said the bubbles would allow New Yorkers to increase their wintertime exercise.
"It is not taking away space that is not being used for anything else," she said.
The plan would put four bubbles over 26 courts from Nov. 15 to March 23. In the warmer months, the courts would be uncovered and $100 covers the entire season, from April to November.
Tennis players would be charged $30 to $100 per hour. In what was referred to as a "congestion-pricing style fee structure" at the meeting, it would cost more to play at more popular times.
The majority of money made from the venture would not go back into the Parks Department's coffers, but would head to the city's general pool of funds, said Charles Kloth, director of concessions for the department, at the community board meeting.
He added that the golf cart shuttle that would operate between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West for winter tennis customers was only tentative at this stage.
Residents, however, still question why public debate on the bubble began only this year after the the Parks Department had already singled out an operator, New York Tennis, at least three months ago to start contract negotiations.
"The Parks Department has engaged in this without a huge public process," said Mel Wymore, CB7 chair. City Councilwoman Gale Brewer also sent a letter to the department in December echoing that sentiment.
William Castro, the borough commissioner for the Parks Department, however, said the community board was not out of the loop.
"The community board was given the [Request for Proposals] in March 2009," he told DNAinfo. "It's up to the community board to decided if they want to have a [public] hearing."
