119th St. Tennis Association

Welcome to the 119th St. Tennis Association Website.

You've come to the right place to find association news, learn about upcoming events and tournaments, find new hitting partners, and learn about all of the benefits of membership. We have put together a section for people that are interested in joining. We hope to count you among our members in the 2012 season. Annual Membership Dues: $35 per year (if paid by May 31, $40 thereafter). Pay by credit-card at our secure site — your support is needed to keep our courts properly maintained!

Note: NYC Parks and Recreation Tennis Permits are for sale and are required from Saturday, April 7 through Sunday, November 18, 2012. See the NYC Parks and Recreation website for further information and to renew online. Permits are sold at the Arsenal at 61st Street and 5th Avenue: Adults $200, Seniors $20, Juniors $10; Single Play passes $15 per person. First-time permit buyers must purchase their permit at the Arsenal, Paragon Sporting Goods (in mid-April) or by mail.

Year-round rule: courts are signed for on a first-come, first-served basis. However, between April - November, a season permit or a Parks issued single play pass are required to reserve a court; one hour for singles, two-hours for doubles. Repeats allowed only if there is availability. If no attendant is on duty, sign-in sheets will be available outside the Park's Staff house; please respect the honor system!

During permit season, a $15 an hour reservation system is in effect for city-wide courts, including at 119th Street. For information, please click on the link: http://www.nycgovparks.org/tennisreservation/

Our resident pros are Dave Kardas, Jaime Bravo and Dawn Fox. To sign-up for adult or kids programs or private lessons, please contact Dave at moc.nsm|evresruoy#moc.nsm|evresruoy or call him at 203-520-9815 or contact Jaime at moc.liamg|ydusymmij#moc.liamg|ydusymmij or call him at 561-310-7791. Dawn can be reached at (251) 895-1369 or moc.liamg|xofnwadxof#moc.liamg|xofnwadxof.

Court hours are 8:00 a.m. - sundown. Please be advised that during the official tennis season, court attendants clean the courts between 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. We request your cooperation to briefly cease play while courts are maintained. This is for your safety as well as for general cleanliness needs!

2012 Update from the President:

The Spring Tennis Festival, held on Saturday, May 19 was a great success. About 100 or so tennis players and friends partook of the great picnic spread donated by local restaurants. Please frequent our sponsor establishments and thank them for their contributions (picnic supplies, raffle items and food!). Throughout the day, there was lots of tennis being played with the pros on court 2 and quick-start tennis for kids on court 1. And, some hearty volunteers showed up at 10:00 to help Napua clean the gutters surrounding the courts. Thanks to all for making the day a success. We raised $2,500 from the raffle, new/renewed memberships, donations and a $1,000 grant from USTA Eastern.

Our 2012 tennis tournament season, coordinated by Tournament Directors Patrick Duvalsaint and Amy Ayres, has begun. The Inaugural Women's Doubles tournament was held during the Spring Tennis Festival. Josie Atienza coordinated this season opening tournament event. Yours truly, Liz Hydes and Joanie Schroeder defeated Daisy Siemon and Henrietta Gwaltney in the final, 6-1, 6-0. Time now for everyone to sign up for the tournament season underway!

Six of our 10 courts were pressure washed in April. More work to do and cracks to fill. Will try to do some repairs with the money we've raised so far but it will take much more fundraising to do anything significant. Your help is needed - support your courts today.

We only have one staff person assigned to the courts from NYC Parks at the time of this writing; glad to have Irene back as our court attendant. Any volunteer help to man the gate when she's not on duty would be welcome!

We will once again host the City Parks Foundation and Columbia University for free tennis programs for kids on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings in July. These popular programs will conclude in mid-August.

MTG (Metropolitan Tennis Group - who host the Annual Matthew Shepard JAM in the fall) has offered to coordinate a round robin event to benefit 119TA. This event will be on July 28th, details to follow.

We appreciate your support especially in these challenging financial times. We could use more volunteer help and membership on our Board of Directors. Please contact me if you wish to be involved! As always, many thanks.

See you at the courts!

Sincerely,

Liz Westbrook Hydes
President

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Thanks to the 2012 Spring Tennis Festival Sponsor: USTA Eastern Metro

Also, hearty thanks to our neighborhood restaurants who provided the sensational picnic buffet:

Bettolona Restaurant (the tiramisu) - Broadway between LaSalle and Tiemann
Henry's (the penne bolognese) - Broadway and 105th Street
Indian Cafe - (chicken Curry, vegetable dishes and other Indian savories) - 108th & Bway
107 West - (mixed green salad)- 107th & Bway
Pisticci - (bruschetta) - LaSalle Street between Broadway and Claremont
Symposium - (chicken dish, Greek salad, spinach pie, grape leaves, eggplant spreads and more) - 113th between Bway & Amsterdam

Other contributions for the picnic and restaurant gift certificates for the raffle came from:

Community Food & Juice (112th & Bway)
Vareli Restaurant (112th & Bway)
University Housewares (Broadway and 113th Street)
West Side Market (110th and Bway)
Serene Spa (269 W. 72nd Street)
Silver Moon Bakery (105th & Bway)
YourServeTennis (119th Street Tennis Pros)
Riverside Park Fund - our affiliate!

Our "GOLD" raffle drawing of two tickets to the US Open Women's Semi-Final was contributed by Tournament Director Patrick Duvalsaint. MANY THANKS! The winners: Gretchen and Fred Johnson - CONGRATULATIONS — have a great trip to the US Open!

The 119th Street Tennis Association is pleased to be an affiliate of Riverside Park Fund.

To reach someone at the Association, check out our contact page.**