Tax-paying tennis regulars slam NYC coaches of rich and famous who hog public courts
There’s no love lost here.
Tennis coaches for the rich and famous are facing off with players in a Manhattan park who are fed up with the pros hogging up public courts to teach their lessons.
Most days, instructors can be found saving spots on line at Hudson River Park, waiting for clients to show up just in time for a lesson.
Sometimes, they take up two of the three of the taxpayer-maintained courts as a long line of players wait on benches, some arriving as early as 4:30 a.m.
“It’s a ridiculously well-off neighborhood with people who could afford to take tennis lessons . . . anywhere,” said SoHo player Brian Kelly, who lives blocks from the park.
One of the high-end trainers is rumored to be Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour’s former coach, regulars say.
“They’re taking an amenity away from taxpayers,” griped one longtime player from SoHo who has witnessed fights break out and even saw a player throw a coach’s bicycle helmet into the river.
The Hudson River Park Trust, a partnership between the state and city, manages the four-mile green space.
Signs clearly state “no private lessons” and “no more than six balls on a court.”
An instructor on Wednesday morning was seen teaching two clients at once and littering the court with balls.
“They come in and pretty much sequester all the courts,” said Lower Manhattan resident Dino Denoso.
It has only gotten worse with the closing of the Midtown Tennis Club, he added.
Critics say the ball is in Hudson River Park’s court, and that there is no enforcement.
“Unauthorized commercial activities are not permitted in the Park, including at the tennis courts, which is enforced to the extent practicable,” a Hudson River Park Trust spokesperson said.
