A Proposed Padel Court Turns Controversial in NYC

There’s plenty of good news out there for padel enthusiasts these days — the sport, already popular overseas, is gaining in popularity in the United States. Sometimes that expansion has come in tandem with other racquet sports; sometimes padel alone is getting a foothold in a new space. But even as some people welcome the opportunity to try out a new sport or revisit an old favorite, others are bristling at the inroads padel is making.

That’s one of the big themes brought up in an article in Curbed by Bridget Read. At the center of the dispute is a proposed facility that would encompass a spa, a restaurant and — yes — padel courts. Some big names are behind it, including KITH founder Ronnie Fieg. At issue — as with many disputes over real estate in NYC — is a question of how noisy the proposed space will be, given discussion of both a rooftop bar and the aforementioned padel courts.

As Read reports, a hearing at the state liquor board has led to at least one compromise: the rooftop bar is now out of the picture. A website run by opponents of the project points to a few different areas of dispute, including concerns over sound and parking as well as frustrations that the padel courts would not be accessible to the public without a fee.

Year-Round Pickleball Addiction? Padel Is Here to Help.

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This isn’t the only case where a proposed padel court has led to a dispute among locals. Writing at The New York Times in 2023, Christopher Clarey noted “the rising tension between the grand old game of tennis and fast-growing newcomers like pickleball.” The discord Clarey wrote about had more to do with enthusiasts for tennis, padel, platform tennis and pickleball butting heads over available space for their respective sports.

That said, Clarey’s article also includes an evocative mention of “the percussive pop of a denser paddle meeting a decompressed tennis ball in padel” — something that might also explain why there’s been some resistance to padel, depending on the location.