Prospect Park Tennis Center

Prospect Park Tennis Center sits at the southern edge of Prospect Park, near the intersection of Coney Island Avenue and Parkside Avenue in the Flatbush and Parade Ground neighborhood of Brooklyn. The address is 50 Parkside Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11226. The Q train stops at Parkside Ave station, one block north. The B and Q trains to Prospect Park station are also within a ten-minute walk.

The complex holds 11 courts total: 9 Har-Tru clay courts and 2 Deco Turf hard courts. The database listing of nine hard courts is wrong on both count and surface type. Har-Tru, a crushed-stone clay surface, is the dominant playing material here, giving the facility a character more associated with traditional clay-court clubs than with a typical New York City public park venue. Courts are lit for evening play and open daily from 7am to 11pm.

This is a year-round facility. The outdoor Har-Tru courts typically run from April through late fall. A seasonal bubble dome covers courts during the winter, making Prospect Park Tennis Center one of the few public tennis venues in Brooklyn where you can play indoors when temperatures drop.

Prospect Park Tennis Center is a staffed, privately managed facility operated by the Prospect Park Alliance under a concession agreement with NYC Parks. The standard NYC Parks system, which uses a $100 adult season permit or a $15 single-play day pass valid at city permit courts, does not apply here. Court time is reserved and billed by the hour.

Evening rates are $40 per hour Monday through Thursday and $32 per hour Friday through Sunday after 7pm. Reservations can be made up to seven days in advance online. Same-day reservations are not available, so plan ahead, especially on weekends or evenings when demand is highest.

The Prospect Park Alliance took over management in 2003, rebuilt the courts, added a clubhouse, and launched ongoing community programming including Special Aces. That program pairs tennis professionals with physical and occupational therapists to provide instruction for children ages 6 to 18 with physical and cognitive challenges.

The historic Tennis House on the Long Meadow, designed in 1910 by Helmle, Hudswell and Huberty (the same firm responsible for the Prospect Park Boathouse), received a $5.1 million city-funded restoration approved in the 2018 fiscal year budget. The building features a vaulted ceiling, colonnaded pavilion, and mosaic tilework. Tennis has been part of the Parade Ground site since the lawn tennis craze of the early 1900s.

A later infrastructure project, documented by E2 Project Management, replaced aging plastic dome bubbles with a new permanent partial enclosure structure around the courts, supporting year-round operations. The combination of clay courts, an indoor winter option, lights until 11pm, and a century-long history makes this facility stand apart from standard NYC Parks permit sites.

For more places to play, see the best public tennis courts in NYC or browse every court in the city. Then find a partner at your level on Doyouplay before you go.