INWOOD — A set of $1.4 million renovated basketball and tennis courts that open this week can't be used after dark because of a deal between a local community board and the Parks Department that some on the board are now regretting, officials said.
Parks Department officials confirmed that there won't be lights at the nine Inwood Hill Park tennis courts and two basketball courts because Community Board 12 members favored putting all of the cash into the courts, at the expense of lighting.
But now that same community board is looking to reverse its request and ask the Parks Department to install lights, CB12 members said.
"Lighting at night is a deterrent to crime," said Pamela Palanque-North, board chair for Community Board 12. "It is in the best interest of the residents."
Palanque-North said the board now plans to ask the parks department to add lights, which will cost an estimated $340,000, according to the city.
Elected officials have called for an increase on security in Northern Manhattan parks after a high-profile rape case took place in Inwood Hill Park after dark last year, DNAinfo.com New York reported.
With that in mind, residents in the neighborhood are concerned that a lack of lighting will attract crime and suspicious activity around the courts.
The courts close at 1 a.m., according to a Parks Department sign. The basketball areas opened Tuesday, while the tennis courts are expected to reopen this week.
"I would think that Inwood residents would rather hear the sound of kids playing basketball than a woman screaming because of a mugging," said Inwood resident Michael Jimenez.
A Parks Department rep said they had not received any request for lighting in the courts from the Inwood and Washington Heights Community Board as of Tuesday.
"If they want to revisit the issue, we would suggest that they send us a resolution from the full board for guidance in any future developments at the park," Philip Abramson, a spokesman for the Parks Department, said in an email.
He added that the project was discussed extensively in the Community Board 12 Parks Committee meetings in June 2011 and September 2011, before CB12 opted to forego the lights.
Abramson wrote in an email.
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There were no working lights at the Inwood Hill tennis and basketball courts, even prior to renovations, he said.
committee members supported the Parks Department's plan to renovate the courts.
adding that the Parks Department agreed to bring in lights for tournaments when and if needed