Tennis Finally Returns To Bensonhurst

While the US Open is in full swing up in Queens, tennis mania has finally returned to Bensonhurst, nearly a year after Superstorm Sandy swamped the courts of Bensonhurst Park. Brooklyn Daily is reporting that courts are finally open again thanks to help from the City Parks Foundation.

Brooklyn Daily described what happened to the courts after the storm and what some local sponsors did to bring them back:

Last year’s hurricane destroyed the protective structure erected over the surfaces for winter, and buried them in sand. The storm tore up the nets and damaged the surrounding fencing.

“They were basically unplayable,” said Jonathan Gamberg, spokesman for the foundation, which provides sports and arts programming in city parks.

Gamberg said Lacoste — which sponsors the foundation’s tennis initiative — expressed interest in repairing Sandy-smashed courts in Brooklyn, and the two groups teamed up to make sure Bensonhurst did not have to go all summer without the sport. With support from the alligator-themed clothier, the foundation washed the muck off the courts, replaced the nets, and fixed the fencing.

On opening day, dozens of kids from the area descended on the renovated courts, racquets in hand.

Gamberg also noted that the opening of the courts before the end of summer was deemed especially important, considering the tennis fever that usually accompanies the US Open.

“Right now, people are excited about playing tennis,” Gamberg told Brooklyn Daily. “It’s a great opportunity for them to get out there and learn a new sport if they haven’t already, or practice more if they already have.”