Crotona Park

On June 20, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe were joined by Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, City Council Member Joel Rivera and 3^rd graders from P.S. 61 to celebrate the $1.6 million renovation of the Crotona Park Tennis House.

The project includes extensive interior upgrades to the electrical and HVAC systems, enlarged public restrooms, a new meeting room for activities, locker rooms and storage space. The building will continue to serve as a rest area for tennis and baseball players who use Crotona Park and will also accommodate Parks & Recreation’s District Three Headquarters in the Bronx.

Borough President Carrion generously allocated almost $1.4 million toward this project. The Mayor contributed $176,000 and the City Council provided another $35,000 to drastically improve this essential facility.

"We’re making significant improvements in our City parks and here in the Bronx, over the next several years, we’ll be investing more than $300 million," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Preserving open space and parkland throughout the five boroughs is important to improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers and the renovation of Crotona Park will help us do that. This tennis house will be a second home for Crotona Park’s budding tennis stars and continue to serve as a center for the community."

"The newly-restored tennis house at Crotona Park will complement the already extensive and diverse recreational opportunities available at this beloved Bronx park," said Commissioner Benepe. "We are grateful to Mayor Bloomberg, as well as the Borough President and City Council, for allocating the funds necessary to see this project through to completion, and for continuing to build upon the recreational spaces of this borough."

At the conclusion of the event it was ‘game, set, match’ for the 3^rd graders in attendance. Cloudy skies did not deter the children from running onto the tennis courts and doing their best impressions of Andy Roddick and Venus Williams.

Crotona Park has been one of the most important public parks in the Bronx for more than 100 years. A sanctuary of rolling grass, lofty trees, baseball diamonds, a pool, and a peaceful lake, it is home to a variety of active recreation facilities. The park includes five baseball diamonds, 20 tennis courts, nine playgrounds, and 26 handball courts. It is the largest park in the South Bronx and the sixth largest in the borough.

Parks & Recreation is in the midst of a major initiative to improve parks throughout the Bronx. We spent over $113 million for Bronx park improvements over the past four and a half years, with new waterfront parks, greenways, and athletic facilities transforming the landscape. There is currently an additional $102 million in active park projects in development, including the creation of Concrete Plant Park and Barretto Point Park, which will expand waterfront access in the South Bronx. The Bronx River Greenway will also connect the South Bronx and Westchester border with a 15-mile multi-use bike and pedestrian path as it is developed over the next decade. More than $300 million will be spent on parks renovations over the next few years, with more than $220 million coming from the construction of the Croton Water Filtration Facility.

"Good shot, bad luck, and hell are the five basic words to be used in a game of tennis, though these, of course, can be slightly amplified."