Fresh Meadows Has Funding for New Pickleball Courts and One Public Court to Play On

The block of 73rd Avenue between 196th Place and 196th Street has a single public pickleball court. It is at Farm Playground, and it is the only NYC Parks pickleball court listed that close to Cunningham Park. A short way east, on Hollis Hills Terrace near the same avenue, is the parking lot where the city now has $4.8 million set aside to build more.

Both facts are true at the same time, and the second will not change the first for a while. The money is fully committed. The courts have not been designed yet. Until that changes, pickleball in Fresh Meadows depends on one permit court and on indoor courts rented by the hour.

What the $4.8 Million Settled

In September, QNS reported that Council Member Linda Lee and state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky had fully funded new pickleball courts at Cunningham Park. Lee secured $4 million in city capital funding. Stavisky added $800,000 in state money, which closed the last gap.

That gap mattered because of how Parks builds things. Under NYC Parks policy, a capital project cannot move forward until it is fully funded. The $800,000 decided whether the project could start at all. The package covers the courts plus a reconfigured parking lot next to them in the 358-acre park.

The request came from inside the neighborhood. According to QNS, Friends of Cunningham Park brought the idea to elected officials. Stavisky credited the late Marc Hecken, a former president of the group, with starting the effort, and current president Martha Taylor with keeping it going. Taylor told QNS, "We heard from neighbors who wanted a place to play." Queens Borough Parks Commissioner Jacqueline Langsam called it a "long-awaited project," and in the same QNS piece said the facility would give the Fresh Meadows community a dedicated place to play.

What the Tracker Shows Today

QNS described the state grant as the step that let the project "move forward to construction." On the NYC Parks Capital Project Tracker, that forward motion has not shown up yet. The listing is titled "Cunningham Park Pickleball Court Construction and Parking Lot Reconstruction," and it shows every phase at the starting line.

Parks has not set design dates or later-phase dates for the project yet. For comparison, another Cunningham Park job shows how far along "underway" looks on the same tracker. The park's garage reconstruction at Union Turnpike and 199th Street has finished design and procurement, is 63% through construction, and lists an adjusted completion of December 2026. The pickleball project will have to pass through each of those stages before anyone plays on Hollis Hills Terrace.

For now, the useful question is where to play this winter.

The One Public Court, and Its Calendar

Farm Playground's court on 73rd Avenue requires a Parks tennis permit. The closest larger public option is Alley Pond Park, where NYC Parks lists four pickleball courts. Those also require the tennis permit. Cunningham Park itself has 20 tennis courts, but the Parks pickleball directory does not list the park as a pickleball location.

Under NYC Parks' permit rules, a permit is required on outdoor courts from the first Saturday in April through the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, so the current season ends Sunday, November 22, ten days after this post goes up. The posted fees:

• Adults, 18 to 61: $100 for the full season, with 10% off for IDNYC holders
• Seniors, 62 and older: $20
• Under 18: $10
• Single-play: $15 for one hour on any court in any borough, or two hours for doubles

The timing works against a late purchase. Full-season permits cost the same and expire on the same date no matter when you buy, and Parks does not refund them. Online orders can take up to three weeks to arrive by mail, and same-day permits are sold only in person. With ten days left in the season, a $15 single-play permit bought in person at a Parks permit office is the version that fits the calendar.

Two court-etiquette rules come from the same page. When no permit holder is waiting, the first person to arrive has priority, along with their partners. Parks also gives tennis priority over other uses of its courts, pickleball included.

After Thanksgiving, the Game Moves Indoors and Gets a Price Tag

Once the outdoor season ends, the steady pickleball options near Fresh Meadows are run by the hour by facility operators. Two venues close to the neighborhood post 2026–27 rates for pickleball specifically. A third is a tennis venue that many neighbors will know.

The Queens College site stands out for winter play because it keeps outdoor courts open through March 31, 2027, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A weekday morning outdoor booking there costs $25 an hour, which is lower than any indoor rate on the table. The facility notes that its seasonal dates and availability can change. Commonpoint posts its pickleball rental rates for the indoor season, which runs October through April.

The Cunningham Tennis Center bubble is the closest indoor court to most Fresh Meadows streets. Its current site lists tennis programs and tennis court rates only. For pickleball players, the dedicated indoor courts are at Queens College and Alley Pond.

The math helps explain why Friends of Cunningham Park pushed for the project. A foursome splitting a prime-time indoor hour at Queens College pays $65 between them. A senior with a $20 Parks permit can play every outdoor session from April to Thanksgiving for less than the cost of one hour of that court. Public courts in Cunningham Park would add permit-season options in a neighborhood that now has a single listed court.

What Moves Next on Hollis Hills Terrace

The next public sign of progress will be on the tracker, when Parks posts a design schedule and the design percentage starts to rise above zero. Parks took online input on the project until November 6, and the funding is already secured. What's left is the design work itself. Friends of Cunningham Park, the group that started this push, remains the local organization connected to the project as it moves from funded to built.

Until then, the season on 73rd Avenue ends November 22, and the courts at Queens College and Alley Pond carry the game through the winter.

Park projects like the one on Hollis Hills Terrace become part of how a neighborhood is understood, and that understanding shows up when a Fresh Meadows home is presented to buyers. If you're thinking about what your home is worth, Michelle Zhao Group tracks this kind of local change in English and Chinese and builds it into a polished, video-first listing presentation. Request a Luxury Home Valuation, and we'll walk you through what the nearby market looks like right now.