The Pickleball Courts Keep Coming

If you were hoping (pleading, praying even) that the city’s post-pandemic pickleball mania would pass, bad news: We’re still riding the pickleball-court boom. This week, CityPickle announced a deal to take over 37,000 square feet at the Paramount Building in Times Square, which will double as its flagship facility and the company’s new headquarters. And it apparently has a lot to oversee: Since last year, CityPickle has opened or announced plans for at least 32 courts across the city (among them the notable 14-court takeover of Central Park’s Wollman Rink under a three-year deal after a test run in 2023).

That’s a lot of dinks and dillballs. The columnless 18-foot-tall facility on the eighth floor of 1501 Broadway will include seven courts on which players can get a game in on their lunch breaks or spend happy hour at the restaurant, lounge, and bar, per New York YIMBY. In addition to the Times Square opening, the company has plans for a 60,000-square-foot spread in Dumbo’s Anchorage Plaza, which CityPickle is operating under a three-year contract with the city’s Parks Department. That project will have 11 courts plus community programming and food trucks, which … sure.

CityPickle isn’t the only company building courts. In June, Red Hook Pickleball Club opened on Van Brunt Street, offering the neighborhood five professional cushioned courts. (“They’re phenomenal,” one pickler wrote.) Elsewhere in Red Hook, we have Velto Pickleball Club, which is reportedly opening in a 14,000-square-foot space above the local Tesla showroom and will include four full-size courts, a half-size court, and a smoothie bar. Velto is billing itself already as the city’s “Premier Luxury Pickleball Club,” though on what basis is unclear. (Are its courts even cushioned?) For the moment, its Instagram page seems hyperfocused on polling its few dozen followers for their thoughts on potential merch and branding. (The company’s color choices are appealing — credit where it’s due.)

Developers are also trying to woo tenants with their own pickleball offerings. An upcoming Long Island City tower with plans for around 560 rentals and condos is touting an amenity package that will feature courts, as is a 515,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Mott Haven that’s in the works. Do you want a townhouse or condo with on-site pickleball courts right now? It’s yours at the Henry on the Upper West Side — or even at the Kips Bay Towers.

Many of these courts are indoors and unlikely to inspire lawsuits over the incessant thock-thocking of a game well played, but some turf wars — or at least perceived turf wars — may still be simmering. Regulars at the weekly Dreamland Roller Disco in Prospect Park are apparently miffed over the major renovation of the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, which included newly opened pickleball courts but apparently killed off what was a decade-plus-running roller dance party. (The Prospect Park Alliance, which manages the center, told Gothamist it will be hosting other rolling-skating events.)

Did the dads of Bainbridge Island in the 1960s know what they would unleash on the New York real-estate market these many decades later? Probably not. But brace yourselves for more, it seems. “We’re just getting started,” CityPickle said back in March.