Pickleball Banned From West Village Playground Amid Ongoing Battle

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Pickleball is officially banned from the Seravalli Playground in the West Village after a months long battle between parents and children against enthusiasts of the racket sport seemingly taking the country by storm.

A sign now posted on the fence of the playground at 17 Horatio St. reads: "Pickleball is no longer allowed in Servalli Playground. Nearby courts are located at: JJ Walker Park."

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The sign also mentions nearby pickleball courts at the William Passannante Ballfield on Houston Street and in the Gertrude Kelly Playground on West 16th Street.

"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," a Parks Department spokesperson told Patch in a statement. "We have converted the handball courts at nearby J.J. Walker Park into two brand-new pickleball courts. They were designed with input from the pickleball community and are a short walk from Seravalli Playground, which no longer has official pickleball courts."

The J.J. Walker Park handball courts were identified by Parks Department as an "underutilized space" that would accommodate pickleball.

The decision to ban pickleball from Seravalli Playground is the culmination of an ongoing saga that has gone from the hardcourt to the headlines to the local community board to online groups and petitions.

The issue received heightened attention when Jake Offenhartz of Gothamist published the story: "'Utter Takeover': Pickleball invasion prompts turf war in West Village."

The piece documented the ongoing battle between "fed-up" parents and their kids having to dodge the whiffle balls as they played catch or learned to ride bikes.

The standoff prompted Parks Department to create two designated pickleball areas within Seravalli Playground to stop the makeshift ones from taking over the entire space.

This didn't put an end to the extra courts being drawn, though, and inspired condemnation from local elected officials Council Member Eric Bottcher and Sen. Brad Hoylman, Gothamist reported.

A petition was subsequently created by Families United For Open Play that aimed to save Seravalli "from the Pickleball takeover."

"Pickleball, like tennis, requires large, designated courts to protect players and non-players," reads the petition that has been signed by more than 3,000 people. "It is dangerous and unfair to the children to let this sudden land grab happen at their expense."

Not everybody agreed with the notion that playgrounds should be prioritized for kids, though.

“The fact that this was a nice place to ride a tricycle in the past is irrelevant,” wrote one pickleball player on an app, Team Reach, where players schedule games, reported Gothamist. “There’s no reason why a 5-year-old with a bike should be prioritized over adults playing a sport.”

The pickleball issue then became a topic of conversation for Lower Manhattan's Community Board 2.

The meeting in the middle of October featured pickleball players emphasizing the welcoming nature of the sport as parents returned serve with stories of their kids almost getting run over by overly competitive adults.

Only time will tell if the official banning of the sport from Seravalli Playground will actually keep the pickleball players out of the area.