The city has served up some bad news for pickleball lovers.
The fad racquet sport has been banned at a West Village playground, where parents complained for months that adult pickleball fans were hogging up all the blacktop space and making it impossible for kids to have fun.
Corporal John A. Seravalli Playground in Manhattan’s West Village had designated two courts solely for the tennis-lite game, but many adults were so desperate to get their pickleball fix they put up their own nets and courts on kids’ play spaces.
Up to 12 matches had been going on at a time on nice days and some frustrated parents instructed their kids to run through the illicit games to reclaim their park space, The Post reported in October.
But Thursday, the Parks Department had announced the end to the racket with a small sign reading: “Pickleball is no longer allowed in Seravalli Playground.”
The fine print of the sign, which was first reported by Gothamist, directed disappointed would-be players to three other neighborhood parks where the newly-popular sport was permitted.
Maria Torres, 28, comes to the park at least three times a week with the children she nannies. Torres said the new rules were a net win for the kids, who were scrambling around the playground kicking a ball and shooting hoops Thursday afternoon.
“Now we can run around. We can do all these activities,” she said of the children in her care.
“We have all this space,” she said looking around. “Before there was not enough space. We restricted our space. We limit our games because we did not want to disturb them but now that we have the whole space, it’s better.”
Another nanny, Helen Chicklas, 27, told The Post that children in the park are much happier now that they aren’t being bullied by adult pickleball players.
“I saw them yelling at kids when the kids’ balls would go onto their court. ‘Watch where your ball is going,’ one of the players shouted. The kids were old enough not to cry but that was wrong,” Chicklas said.
“They felt like they were entitled to the space. I don’t think they care about the kids.”
Robert Feigen, 74, who often comes to the park to roller skate, also celebrated the change, claiming the overzealous pickleball players were at fault in the childish dispute.
“If they had stuck to two courts it would be okay but they took over. I’m kind of glad they are gone. I didn’t like the fact that they took over,” Feigen said.
“The pickle ball players [were] always here. You could not beat them out. One group would take a net down and another group would take over that space so it was impossible.
“They had up to seven courts. It was insane. I used to come here feeling so sad,” he said.
Now that the jarring cross court action has been banished, Feigen said the park is “roller skating heaven.”
“I [had] actually gave up [skating here]. All summer I used to go down to the river instead. A couple of time I took the train to Central Park,” he said.
“I’m happy now. Oh yeah, I’m having a good time,” he said laughing as he roller skated in circles around the park with no obstacles.
At the nearby William Passannante Ballfield on Houston Street and 6th Avenue and Gertrude Kelly Playground near 8th Avenue and 16th Street, kids and teens were jumping rope, skateboarding or playing basketball and soccer, but no pickleball players were on the sanctioned courts Thursday afternoon.
Pickleball was the fastest growing sport in the US for the second straight year, with nearly five million players from coast to coast, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.
After hearing sour grapes from New Yorkers jostling for court time, lawmakers called on the city to designate official pickleball courts in the boroughs earlier this year.
Pickleball has exploded in popularity & that’s great. But competition for space at playgrounds has caused tension,” tweeted Councilman Erik Bottcher, a Democrat who represents the West Village, in October as the turf war came to a head.
“Families are angry b/c pickleball players are drawing their own courts on space used by children. This isn’t cool, and we’re working with @NYCParks on solutions.”
“It’s always our goal to provide a balance of access between all of the various sports and activities that our regular park visitors enjoy,” Parks Department press officer Izzy Verdery told The Post of the ban at Seravalli and new nearby courts.
The agency’s website highlighted 11 other city parks with dedicated areas to play the emerging sport, in addition to the three parks it directed players to in the Village and Chelsea.
“Many of our recreation centers offer an introduction to the sport through drills, clinics, and game play with other members. Be sure to look for a pickleball class in your neighborhood!,” the website read.
The sport’s surging popularity had also put officials in Ridgewood, NJ in a pickle this summer after a rash of complaints about senior citizens making too much noise on the court.
Grievances from nearby residents continued even after the leafy suburb’s village council spent $20,000 to erect sound-blocking fencing and mandated that players use noise-reducing balls and paddles.