Players of the nation’s fastest-growing new sport are set to invade Wollman Rink in Central Park beginning next month.
Starting April 7, pickleball programmer CityPickle is setting up shop in Manhattan, opening 14 courts for daily play.
Central Park’s no-longer-Trump-owned Wollman Rink famously hosts wintertime ice skating — last summer it became a roller skating disco oasis — and this summer it’s slated to become a home for the hottest new game in the Hamptons and among geriatrics: The playground-overtaking, lifestyle magazine-inspiring, turf war-causing combination of tennis, badminton and ping-pong that is known as pickleball.
The “largest pickleball installation in the Northeast” will be run by CityPickle, which bills itself as “New York City’s First Pickleball club.”
Fans can get their pickle fix — which involves a net, a paddle, a wiffle ball, 10-15-minute-long games and no existing knowledge of the sport, according to a press release — from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily through Oct. 9.
Courts will cost from $80 to $120, depending on whether players are getting their pickle on at peak or off-peak hours.
Custom CityPickle paddles are available to rent for $6 apiece, or players can BYOPBP.
For those intimidated by the sport’s hilarious name, bizarre reputation, and combination of so many sports simultaneously, there will be pickleball lessons, clinics and “a diverse slate of CityPickle coaches.”
For advanced pickleball practitioners, there will be leagues and tournaments.
For deep-pocketed picklers, the opportunity exists to have a birthday party or corporate team-building event at the venue, the release makes clear.
“Our mission when founding CityPickle was to bring pickleball to as many New Yorkers as possible,” explained Mary Cannon, co-founder of CityPickle, in a statement about the group’s goal.
The company, which launched last year, has previously hosted seasonal courts at Hudson Yards and the TWA Hotel — and will soon offer its first permanent location at a climate-controlled 10,110-square-foot space at a new development in Long Island City.