By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — Community Board 8, which approved the concept of a tennis bubble for Central Park's courts early last year, has retracted its decision and will take "no position" on the controversial plan until it receives more information from the Department of Parks and Recreation.
In February 2009, the board approved a plan for the climate controlled tennis bubble to facilitate play during the winter months. But after locals reacted angrily to a plan for a climate-controlled, year-round tennis court that could cost players as much $100 a session, board members decided to draft the new resolution Thursday night.
"We did vote for this, but there has been more information that has come up," said Barbara Rudder, the co-chair of the Parks Committee with CB 8. "Members of the community board asked us to reconsider."
The board voted to remain neutral until it receives the latest information on the plan.
The new resolution came at the same meeting in which Bill Castro, Manhattan borough commissioner for the Parks Department, retracted a plan to keep another plan tennis bubble under the Queensboro Bridge all year after much East Side outrage.
Castro did not comment on the proposed bubble for Central Park and said another presentation had not been scheduled to present board with the latest information on the plan.
The Parks Department is proposing to cover 26 of the 30 courts with four 35 feet high bubbles in Central Park near West 96th Street from November through April.
Residents at Thursday night's meeting and members of the board mirrored the concerns of Community Board 7, their west side counterparts, raising the environmental impact of the diesel generator that would inflate the bubble, the fee of up to $100 an hour to play and the bubble's distasteful appearance.
Kate Kleber, a 74-year-old bird watcher and Upper East Side resident, feared the suburbanization of Central Park with the bubbles adding another man-made structure.
"Instead of looking like the country in the city, it's beginning to look like a suburban backyard," she said.
Tennis players also showed up excited with the thought of another year-round tennis venue for the city.
Mark Braunstein, who has played tennis in Central Park for 30 years, did not have a problem with the bubble, but was concerned about the cost to players.
The Parks Department plan to charge between $30 and $100, changing with demand. Braunstein said he would be prepared to pay $25 to $30 an hour.
